With five goals and three assists to his name heading into Sunday’s final against France, it feels like everything is set up for Argentina star Lionel Messi to make this World Cup his own. And the temptation to draw parallels between Messi’s 2022 exploits and those of his late idol Diego Maradona in 1986 are natural.
Messi is the greatest player of his era, and the same was obvious of El Diego back in the 80s. But what Maradona achieved remains on another level. While the Paris Saint-Germain superstar is the spearhead of a talented Argentina side, his predecessor lifted the World Cup in Mexico alongside one of the least memorable Albiceleste outfits of any generation.
That competition was always set to be about Maradona. His 1982 tournament had been blighted by heavy-handed tactics from the opposition, and while he was flanked by Argentinian greats such as Mario Kempes, Ossie Ardiles and Daniel Passarella, his temper eventually snapped when he was sent off against Brazil with his side 3-0 down and heading for elimination.
But in Mexico, he was primed to be the star attraction. Not only was he at the height of his powers at the age of 25 and on the cusp of achieving untold success with Napoli, but he was playing in an Argentina team built entirely around him. And it had to be. There was no more Kempes or Ardiles, while Passarella missed the entire World Cup through illness. Elsewhere Carlos Bilardo’s squad was stacked largely with journeyman players.
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Jorge Valdano was a Real Madrid star, but besides Nantes’ Jorge Burruchaga there were few other players who could have hoped to be in the same team as Maradona were they not fortunate enough to have qualified for the same national side as the great man.
Watch back any of Maradona’s performances from that 1986 World Cup run and it is clear to see just how much he was relied upon. In the opening Group A fixture against South Korea he had a hand in all three goals, then he scored in a 1-1 draw with holders Italy before his inch-perfect cross brilliantly teed up Burruchaga for the clinching header in the 2-0 win over Bulgaria.
In the round of 16 against Uruguay it was his composure on the ball which opened the space for Sergio Batista to run into in the build-up to Pedro Pasculli’s winner, and in the next round he delivered two of the most famous goals of all time against England. That double overshadowed a brilliant brace in the semi-final clash with Belgium, when he somehow flicked home a first beyond two defenders and the goalkeeper from Burruchaga’s slide-rule pass and then took on four opponents before slamming home a second.
When West Germany came from two down in the final to level the scores late on, Maradona immediately responded with a killer pass which Burruchaga finished with aplomb to win Argentina the World Cup. Of 14 Albiceleste goals in the tournament, Diego had scored five and had a hand in seven of the other nine. The Golden Ball award for the Player of the Tournament was a foregone conclusion, Maradona earning 1282 points from voters with Germany’s Harald Schumacher coming in a very distant second with 344.
But it wasn’t just in the goal involvements that he was a standout. Every single piece of play from Argentina seemed to be about Maradona. Stick on any of those 90-minute contests and you’ll probably see the number 10 laid out on the floor for around a third of the time. He was targeted throughout, with opposition teams setting out to rile him just as he had been wound up to breaking point in 1982. This time, though, he just kept bouncing back with brilliance.
When Argentina had the ball they didn’t attack with any real pattern of play other than to look to Maradona. Hit the pause button at any point when Maradona is not on the screen and you can likely guess where he is on the field of play.
It’s all in the eyes. Every team-mate is sussing out where their star man is and what is the most effective route to get the ball to him. If the ball is left of centre-field and Maradona is patrolling the right, Batista will feed Roberto Giusti, who will pass to Jose Luis Cuciuffo so that the number 10 can receive the ball, raise the tempo and take on a couple of players in a bid to fashion an opening.
Every last second of every Argentina game was about Maradona doing the business in one form or another. By the time of the final there was a new spring in the step of a squad which – Diego apart – had no real right still being in the competition. Feeling empowered by every pass from Maradona, they had become a greater proposition than anyone could have imagined.
Yes, the goals against England are the moments people can immediately identify from that tournament. But in truth Maradona’s entire 630 minutes that summer were of a level that nobody – not even Messi – can ever be expected to replicate.
You can debate all you like whether Messi has trumped Maradona as the greatest player of all time, but there’s no question who delivered the most mesmerising month of international football ever seen.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject to Change
