Why Diego Maradona against Belgium was his most complete display at the 1986 World Cup - The Athletic

This is a series re-assessing famous individual or team performances in World Cup history. Some will be legendary displays by established world-class players or performances that fell short, others will be once-in-a-lifetime cameos that have nevertheless gone down in folklore.

It’s easy to look back upon historic displays with rose-tinted spectacles or to revise our memories of particular performances based upon what came afterwards. A second look at these games can be revealing.

Diego Maradona against Belgium in 1986?

But the game everyone talks about at that World Cup was Maradona against England — the Hand of God followed by the goal of the century — right?

True, and for good reason too, but that also means another of Maradona’s performances in Mexico gets totally overlooked.

Three days after breaking English hearts, Maradona returned to the Azteca and produced arguably an even better — certainly more complete — display against Belgium. He scored twice (don’t try to compare his second against Belgium to that goal against England — Maradona’s brother made that mistake) and put on an exhibition.

There were rabonas, “rainbow kicks”, chops, hooks, pitching-wedge passes, surging runs from deep, selfless cut-backs, enough one-twos to test a microphone and a sublime volleyed back-heel lay-off that had John Motson making a noise in the commentary box that should only be heard after the 9pm watershed.

By the end of it all, Maradona had registered seven attempts on goal and created six chances — more than in any other game at that World Cup — and the Belgium players were stumbling around in a daze, looking like a team in need of smelling salts.

Maradona, quite simply, was unplayable.

Time to turn back the clock and reconsider what we may have forgotten.

Argentina are straining at the leash. The Mexican referee tells half a dozen Argentina players, including Maradona, to stand back from the centre circle before Belgium take the kick-off. He blows his whistle and seven seconds later Maradona fouls Jan Ceulemans. File that action in a folder marked ‘keen’.

Diego A. Maradona vs Belgium at Mexico ‘86

pic.twitter.com/sWU78elnQn

— AL (@AlRedentore) December 13, 2022

Maradona’s next contribution, less than half a minute later, is more memorable. Memorable because the skill that Maradona uses to manoeuvre his way out of an area the size of a telephone box has long been named after him. Ask football-mad kids of any generation to “do a Maradona” and they’ll know what you mean.

It is Maradona’s equivalent of the Cruyff turn — placing one foot on top of the ball, turning 180 degrees and then dragging the ball towards you with the sole of the other foot (see the picture below, where Maradona is in the middle of that triangle of Belgium players) before taking a third touch and spinning away.

Two of that trio of Belgium players converged on Maradona, expecting him to come out of the turn and drive forward with the ball, exactly as he did against England. On this occasion, though, the space is on the inside — something Maradona recognises before anyone else. Instinctively, he flicks the ball to Jorge Valdano with the outside of his left foot.

The Belgians are bamboozled. Frank Vercauteren, who is matching Maradona stride for stride in the picture below, is looking in completely the opposite direction to the ball. He ends up flattening Maradona, while Valdano escapes.

Up in the stands the pace of life is rather more sedate. “People tend not to be in a hurry in Mexico City,” John Motson, the BBC commentator, observes as fans continue to stroll into the Azteca with the game nearly 10 minutes old.

In terms of goals, those latecomers missed nothing. In terms of Maradona, they had already missed a treat. Or, in Maradona’s words, “A few passes, one rabona and a few feints.”

Motson was lost for words — literally at one point.

With six minutes gone, a Belgium cross has been cleared and is dropping out of the sky. Maradona, pictured below (just about – Wyscout wasn’t around in 1986, so bear with me), is midway inside his own half and has his back to goal.

What follows is both ridiculous and majestic. Nonchalantly and delightfully, Maradona flicks a backheel volley into the path of Jorge Burruchaga, who has pulled away to his left, essentially in Maradona’s passenger-side wing mirror.

That Maradona knows Burruchaga is there is one thing, that he makes that back-heel volley look so routine is quite another.

Motson, much like the Belgians, is caught completely off-guard by Maradona’s audacity. “Maradona,” the commentator says dryly as the ball drops, anticipating that Maradona will just control it.

“Oooooh,” Motson groans with a mixture of satisfaction and pleasure a split-second later, almost as if Jimmy Hill, alongside him in the commentary box, has just served him a Mexican churro that tasted far better than he ever could have imagined.

The backheel is interesting in a wider context. Picture Maradona and you think of his amazing dribbling ability and the way that he could glide past opponents with the ball glued to his left foot. Yet rewatching this World Cup semi-final serves as a reminder (to be fair, the last time I watched it was as a 10-year-old in 1986) that Maradona’s one-touch play was exquisite too.

He had a wonderful knack of knowing where and when to release the ball first-time — generally when his presence acted like a magnet to defenders — and the execution, even under the most intense pressure, was nearly always perfect.

Look at the image below and the way in which three Belgium players have been drawn to Maradona. Before receiving the ball, he knows that Burruchaga is in space inside of him. With his left foot behind his right, Maradona beautifully disguises a flick to Burruchaga and spins in the other direction.

By the time the Belgians look to see where the ball has gone, Maradona has gone too, running off the back of them to complete the one-two.

It is genuinely hard to work out Maradona’s position. Then again, it is probably not worth wasting any time trying to come up with an answer to that given that he described his role in the final against Germany as being “out there on the loose, wherever I wanted to play”.

Stinging the goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff’s palms with a ferocious shot from 30 yards, driving through the heart of the pitch with that distinctive running style — elbows high, neck hunched (see the picture below), and even chasing back to make tackles inside his own half, Maradona popped up everywhere.

Despite all of that, it was goalless at half-time and Argentina had not played particularly well. Maradona was concerned and called an impromptu meeting in the tunnel with the rest of the Argentina players. In Touched by God, his fascinating book about Argentina’s triumph at the 1986 World Cup, Maradona describes how his team-mates were left “scared shitless” after he vented his anger along with Valdano and Oscar Ruggeri.

In Maradona’s eyes, Argentina needed to change their attitude against a “cocky” Belgium team. But it was about much more than that — Maradona realised there and then that he “had to come out and win it alone”.

It didn’t take long for the switch to be flicked — seven minutes, to be precise — and there is so much to enjoy about Maradona’s first goal, starting with his brilliant movement across two Belgium defenders and behind three others. Maradona described it as running “on a diagonal, like a figure eight”.

Although Burruchaga’s through ball is delightful, Maradona’s run comes first and, essentially, makes that pass. In the picture below, you can see Maradona already setting off as Burruchaga drifts inside with the ball.

Quite why Eric Gerets, Belgium’s No 2, is so deep is a question for another time. Stabbing the ball suddenly but elegantly with his right foot, Burruchaga carves the Belgium defence wide open.

Maradona’s speed, as well as his movement, is striking — something you can see via the reverse angle below and in the pictures that follow, as daylight opens up between him and the two Belgium defenders (Daniel Veyt and Stephane Demol) who are trying to track him.

Also, when you freeze the clip below and look at the position of the ball and the angle of Maradona’s run, it seems extraordinary to think that he scores with a one-touch finish in the far corner with his left foot.

Pfaff’s decision to charge from his line made life slightly easier for Maradona, but there was still much to do…

… as you can appreciate even more from the angle below.

Although some may question whether another player would have used their right foot in that situation — it would certainly seem far more natural to do so — Maradona is able to take the ball earlier and in his stride by lifting it with his left…

(Photo: STAFF/AFP via Getty Images)

… and leaves a trail of destruction behind him as he turns away to celebrate.

(Photo: Mike King/Allsport/Getty Images)

Now to Maradona’s second and the fallout that annoyed him.

“Don’t compare the goal against England to the goal against Belgium. That is what I said to my brother, who was the first to make that comparison, and I later said it to everyone else: don’t tell me that goal is better than the one I scored against the English.”

To be clear, we’re comparing performances here, not goals, Diego.

What we can say for sure is that the fifth and final goal that Maradona scored at the 1986 World Cup finals was glorious, right down to the way that he maintained his balance and somehow stayed on his feet as he turned away after shooting across Pfaff. Fernando Signorini, Maradona’s personal trainer, marvelled at that as much as the goal.

The move starts with Jose Luis Cuciuffo, one of Argentina’s three central defenders, stepping out with the ball. Little things are big things and easy to overlook, such as the way that Maradona intuitively back-pedals into space, away from the attention of the Belgium midfielder, in preparation to not just take possession but…

… receive on the back foot and with his body open. By letting the ball run across him and controlling with his right foot — the first and last time he touches the ball with his right foot before scoring — Maradona is immediately on the attack and facing the Belgium goal.

On the face of it, there is nowhere for Maradona to go as he takes a touch forward and three Belgium players confront him. In reality, anything is possible with his left foot. Maradona sweeps the ball using the inside of his left foot — he called that action a “hook” — and in the blink of an eye…

… he is the other side of the three Belgium players, one against one with Gerets, and with two Argentina players on his left. One of them is Cuciuffo, who has continued his run, presumably more in hope than expectation that he will get the ball back.

Gerets — “poor Gerets” as Maradona calls him in his book — expects Maradona to hook the ball on his inside again, just as he did against England for his wonder goal.

But Maradona goes the opposite way here, shifting the ball to his left and leaving Gerets so disorientated that…

… he ends up with his back to Maradona.

Maradona takes another touch with his left and his pace takes him beyond Gerets…

… and in a position to pull the trigger.

The way he takes the shot after arriving at full speed — throwing his right leg up in the air and landing on his left — helps to generate power but also means that Maradona is falling away afterwards.

(Photo: Archivo El Grafico/Getty Images)

In the photo below, Maradona has all his weight on that left foot still and, seemingly, will end up on his back. Signorini loved this freeze frame. “He’s not human,” his personal trainer said.

Transferring all his body weight onto his right foot…

… and then back onto his left, Maradona stays upright.

Just about putting one foot in front of the other again…

… Maradona wheels away, his celebration as iconic as the goal that preceded it.

The showreel goes on and on.

Sandwiched between those two goals of the highest quality, Maradona embarrassed Enzo Scifo, Belgium’s talisman, with what he describes as a “rainbow kick”, lifting the ball over the midfielder’s head and collecting it on the other side.

Scifo resorted to fouling Maradona but — and this is another illustration of Maradona’s extraordinary strength and balance — he managed to shrug off his opponent…

… and even from the remarkable position that he was in below, where he seems certain to end up face down on the turf…

… defy gravity, stay on his feet and run clear.

Unfortunately for Maradona and Argentina, the referee pulled play back for a foul — a decision that Maradona was still upset about 30 years later (we know the feeling, Diego).

A bigger officiating howler (and a contender for the worst offside of all time) took place later in the game.

With apologies for the grainy footage below, that’s Maradona playing the ball on the edge of the centre circle — first time again — and setting Burruchaga free on the near touchline.

Every Belgium outfield player is in that picture, up against only three from Argentina — Maradona, Burruchaga and Valdano. It is a lovely third-man run from Burruchaga and, aside from the fact that he is in his own half at the time of Maradona’s pass, there are six Belgians playing him onside (by about 10 yards in the case of the left-back).

Burruchaga sprints clear and is left holding his head in his hands as the linesman raises his flag.

Just prior to that, Maradona came close to completing his hat-trick when he tore through the Belgium team again. “The defenders are absolutely helpless,” Motson said.

Demol tried to pull Maradona back (it is incredible how often that kind of thing happened)…

… but Maradona held him off, drove forward and shot just beyond the far post.

Maradona was relentless, even chasing down what felt like lost causes. With 10 minutes to go, Burruchaga overhit a one-two that Maradona could easily have given up on, especially as Gerets had a significant head start on him and Argentina were winning 2-0. He had no such thoughts.

“Surely he (Maradona) won’t reach that,” Motson said.

Motson barely had time to finish that sentence when Maradona surged past Gerets to keep the ball in.

“Goodness me,” Motson adds.

Maradona was not just the best player on the pitch by a distance, but also the hardest working. He was selfish when he needed to be, but selfless too.

After scampering down the right and withstanding another cynical attempt to bring him down (see the picture below — Maradona was fouled a record 53 times in the 1986 World Cup and that figure could easily have been doubled)…