1986 FIFA World Cup

1986 FIFA World Cup

The 13th FIFA World Cup was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. It was won by Argentina, who beat West Germany 3-2 in the final at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca. Total attendance was 2,394,031, an average per match of 46,039.

About 1986 FIFA World Cup in brief

Summary 1986 FIFA World CupThe 13th FIFA World Cup was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. It was won by Argentina, who beat West Germany 3-2 in the final at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca. Total attendance was 2,394,031, an average per match of 46,039. Italy were the defending champions, but were eliminated by France in the Round of 16. The 1986 World Cup saw the appearance of an audience phenomenon dubbed the Mexican wave, which was popularised worldwide after featuring during the tournament. Mexico became the first nation to host two World Cups, as it had hosted the 1970 World Cup. Canada, Denmark and Iraq made their first appearances at the final stage. The format of the competition changed from 1982. The final pair of matches in each group started at the same time and the second round was played on a knock-out basis rather than groups. For the design of the logo, an unofficial motto was adopted: “Football – Peace – Unido por Unido” The official motto of the World Cup is: “El Mundo por un Mundo, por Un Mundo” (Football for the Peace, by Unido, por Mundo) The official mascot of the tournament is the United Nations, along with the legend: “FIFA – Peace, Unido – Football for the Year of the Peace” The final score was 1-0 to Argentina in the quarter-final against England. Argentina captain Diego Maradona scored two goals, including the \”Hand of God\” goal, as well as another voted ‘Goal of the Century’ against England in the semi-final.

Colombia was originally chosen as hosts by FIFA in June 1974, with Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Pereira and Bucaramanga intended as the host cities, plus potentially Barranquilla. Colombia agreed to host a 16-team competition, however, FIFA later allowed an expansion to 24 teams for the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Mexico, United States and Canada submitted bids on 11 March 1983 to be the replacement host. Mexico was selected as the new host in May 1983, thus becoming the first country to host World Cup more than once. The United States submitted a bid with 14 stadiums, only six of which seated over 40,000 at the time of the bid, and three over 60,000. A severe earthquake in September 1985 cast doubt over Mexico’s ability to organize the tournament, but the stadiums were not affected and it was decided to go ahead with the preparations. The U.S. bid contained more than the required number of stadiums with the required capacity tohost World Cup matches. The Americans also pointed out that Mexico had the influence of two seats on the 22-person executive committee, a FIFA vice president and an executive at Televisa, a Mexican television network with ties to Havelange. The Canadian bid committee called Mexico’s 10-page bid ‘a joke’