Diego Maradona, Hand of God, 1986 FIFA World Cup
It has since gone down as one of the most iconic moments in sporting history, but Diego Maradona’s goal off his hand at Argentina’s 1986 World Cup quarter-final match against England was, by all sporting rules, illegal.
With the teams tied in the thensofar non-scoring match, Maradona opened the scoring in the 51st minute with the now-famous ‘Hand of God’ goal, which, as the name suggests, came off his hand.
Argentina would go on to win the match and the final to take the 1986 World Cup, but at that quarter-final against England, the referee had not seen the ball go off Maradona’s hand. He would eventually go on to win the golden ball at the tournament.
After the match, Maradona famously said in Spanish, that the goal was scored "un poco con la cabeza de Maradona y otro poco con la mano de Dios“ – translated, ‘a little off the head of Maradona, a little off the hand of God.”
