Maradona Hand of God — What Happened and Why
Six minutes of the 1986 World Cup quarter-final contain the two most replayed goals in football history, scored by the same player against the same defence. In the 51st minute Diego Maradona punched the ball past Peter Shilton and the referee gave it. In the 55th he ran sixty metres past half the England team and scored what a global poll later named the goal of the century.
What actually happened
Argentina and England met in Mexico City on 22 June 1986, four years after the Falklands War, in front of 114,000 people at the Estadio Azteca.
Maradona played a one-two on the edge of the box. The England midfielder Steve Hodge, trying to clear, sliced the ball back over his own defence. Maradona ran in against Shilton — twenty centimetres taller, arms up — and got there first with his left fist, disguised against the side of his head.
The Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser was unsighted and his linesman gave no signal. The goal stood. England’s players surrounded the referee for a full minute and got nothing.
Why the referee gave it
Because nobody in a position to see it did see it. Bin Nasser was following play from behind and to the side; the linesman Bogdan Dochev was level with the last defender, on the far side of the collision. There was no VAR, no replay review, and no mechanism for the officials to consult anything but each other.
Bin Nasser has said since that he looked to his linesman, saw no flag, and had to give the goal. Which is, procedurally, exactly right — and the reason the incident is remembered as an act of cunning rather than an officiating scandal.
The line that named it
Asked about the goal afterwards, Maradona said it was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.” The phrasing did the rest: it turned a handball into a myth in one sentence, and it’s the reason a piece of cheating carries a religious name forty years later.
He was more direct later in life. In his autobiography and in interviews he admitted the handball plainly, framed it in the context of the war, and never expressed regret about it.
The second goal
Four minutes later he collected the ball in his own half, turned Peter Beardsley and Peter Reid, went past Terry Butcher and Terry Fenwick, drew Shilton and rolled it in. Eleven touches, sixty metres, ten seconds.
FIFA’s public vote in 2002 named it the Goal of the Century. The pairing is what makes the afternoon strange to talk about: the most cynical goal in World Cup history and the most brilliant one, four minutes apart, from the same player.
England lost 2–1. Argentina went on to beat Belgium and then West Germany in the final, and Maradona finished the tournament with five goals, five assists and the Golden Ball.
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Is Maradona in Vikto?
Not yet, and the Hand of God is a good illustration of why the rating system would still put him near the top if he were.
Vikto scores every legend on honours out of 40, position-normalised impact out of 40, and global recognition out of 20 — and 1986 is close to a maximum on all three. Argentina isn’t a playable pool yet, because pools ship complete at 36 legends rather than one name at a time.
When it lands, he arrives at 98 or 99, Icon tier — level with or one point below Messi’s 99. The full comparison is already written up in Maradona vs Messi, and the wider ranking is in best soccer players of all time.
Frequently asked questions
What was the Hand of God?
A goal Maradona scored against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final by punching the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton. The referee didn’t see the handball and allowed it.
Did Maradona admit the handball?
Yes. He joked about it immediately afterwards — “the hand of God” — and admitted it openly in later years, without expressing regret.
Why wasn’t the goal disallowed?
The referee was unsighted and his linesman gave no signal. There was no video review available in 1986.
What was the second goal?
A sixty-metre solo run past four England players, four minutes later, voted FIFA’s Goal of the Century in 2002.
Is Maradona playable in Vikto?
Not yet. Argentina is on the roadmap; when the pool ships he’s a 98 or 99 Icon.
More: Maradona vs Messi, Argentina legends, best soccer players of all time. Every pool on the legends hub.
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