1986 FIFA World Cup

The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially resigned in 1982. Mexico was selected as the new host in May 1983.

It was won by Argentina (their second title, after also winning in 1978), led by Diego Maradona who scored the infamous "Hand of God goal", and also a goal voted as "Goal of the Century", in the same quarter-final against England. These were two of the five goals that Maradona scored during the tournament, and he also created another five for his team-mates. Argentina beat West Germany 3–2 in the final at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. Total attendance was 2,393,031, an average per match of 46,019. The 1986 World Cup saw the appearance of the phenomenon dubbed the Mexican wave, which was popularised world-wide after featuring during the tournament.

The format of the competition changed from 1982, with the second round being played on a knock-out basis rather than groups. The 24 teams qualified were divided into six groups of four (A to F). The top two teams and the four best third place finishers from the six groups advanced to the knockout round of 16 teams. It was the last FIFA World Cup where teams from the same continent were not fully separated from each other in the draw for the first round. Under new rules after this competition, each World Cup group had either two or three European teams. In 1986, Group B only had one European team (Belgium).