World Cup tales part 9: Diego Maradona - The hand of God
World Cup 2026: Paul Coyte reflects on meeting Harry Kane
|GB NEWS
The moment, some 40 years on, is always referenced ahead of a World Cup
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No England fan would have not heard about the Hand of God, the infamous goal by Diego Maradona at the 1986 World Cup.
But to get to this point, the Three Lions had to recover from a poor start to the tournament after losing 1-0 to Poland and drawing 0-0 with Morocco.
A hat-trick from Gary Lineker against Poland helped England out of the group stages, before beating Paraguay in the round of 16, 3-0.
The run set up a thrilling quarter-final contest against Argentina, where Maradona would make his mark.
Six minutes into the second half, Maradona came driving forward, playing a pass out to Jorge Valdano.
Valdano tried to find a way past numerous English defenders, but the ball was intercepted and knocked backwards by Steve Hodge.
As the ball went up in the air, Maradona found himself alone inside the penalty area as he went up to challenge Peter Shilton in the England goal.
Shilton jumped for the ball, leading with his right hand, while Maradona, who was eight inches smaller than the Englishman, leapt with an outstretched left arm.

The hand of God is one of the most infamous pieces of World Cup history
|GETTY
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The Argentine flicked the ball goalwards past Shilton with his left hand, who went sprinting towards the referee with numerous other English players in protest.
Tunisian referee Ali Ben Nasser, who initially gave the goal, had to consult with his linesman, given the scale of the backlash from the Three Lions.
The pair eventually decided to give the goal, handing Argentina the lead in the contest.
Maradona would then go on to score what has been described as the "goal of the century", weaving past four English players after a 60-yard dash and finishing past Shilton to make it 2-0.

The Argentine eventually admitted he did handle the ball past Shilton
|GETTY
Lineker would pull one back, but it was not enough as Argentina went through and would go on to win the tournament.
The moment became immortalised in World Cup history, with Maradona showing both the best and worst parts of the game in one half of football.
Nineteen years after the incident, Maradona admitted that he had scored the goal with his hand.
He offered an apology to Shilton, who rejected it, saying it was too late.

Maradona's match-worn shirt would eventually sell at auction for £7.1million
|GETTY
After the game, Maradona swapped shirts with Hodge in the tunnel.
Following years of requests, Hodge put the piece of history up for auction with Sotheby's.
On May 4, 2022, the shirt was sold at auction for a record £7.1million, a world record for an item of sports memorabilia.
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