The 5 most unsporting moments in World Cup history

#2: The Hand of God, World Cup 1986

It’s the moment that still annoys England fans to this day, over 30 years on. While the majority of football fans prefer to remember Diego Maradona’s amazing second goal in Argentina’s quarter-final match with England in the 1986 World Cup – the so-called ‘Goal of the Century’ – the truth is that he probably shouldn’t have been on the pitch to score the goal, as he probably should’ve been sent off instead for an earlier piece of horribly unsporting behaviour.

Early in the second half, with the game tied at 0-0, England defender Steve Hodge miscued a clearance, sending the ball scything wildly up into the air inside England’s penalty box.

It looked like goalkeeper Peter Shilton would easily claim it, but somehow Maradona got there first – by clearly punching the ball over him and into the net.

The Argentine forward celebrated the goal like it was legitimate and despite England’s best protests, the referee missed the foul and allowed it to stand. Four minutes later, his classic slaloming run led to his second goal and England’s World Cup was all but over.

Post-match Maradona claimed the goal had been scored “with a little of the head of Maradona, and a little of the hand of God”, giving the incident its famous epithet.

In reality, though it was a massively unsporting piece of behavior by a man who clearly knew no limits when it came to how far he’d go to win.