Argentina's Diego Maradona scored a goal against England with his notorious “Hand of God” on this day in 1986. The play, made during a World Cup quarterfinal, was a stroke of improvised genius that helped net the South American nation a 2-1 victory. Maradona had clearly violated the rules — after all, this is a game where only the goalkeeper gets to use his hands — but the referee allowed it to stand over a curious misunderstanding.
Argentina was up close to England’s goal, and the ball was bouncing around the edges of the penalty box. England got possession, and midfielder Steve Hodge attempted to pass the ball to goalkeeper Peter Shilton, so it could be thrown far from the players jockeying nearby. Shilton was ready, but in front of him was the much shorter Maradona, who leaped with his hand held high. The ball bounced off his fist and into the goal. Referees thought he’d used his head, so they allowed it.
The win was a cathartic moment for some Argentinians. Four years earlier, they’d lost a war against England over the Falkland Islands, an archipelago 300 miles off the Argentinian coast that remains disputed territory. For Maradona, the win was a satisfying moment of revenge. The team would go on to win that year’s World Cup.
Maradona insisted the illegal play was an honest accident … until 19 years later, when he apologized publicly and admitted it was intentional. Shilton, still sour, refused to accept Maradona’s mea culpa. Hodge, for his part, said Maradona was “wrong” to play that way but didn’t blame him for anything, accepting the hand ball as a brilliant move. He’d even swapped jerseys with the Argentine player after the game (though he hadn’t known the play was illegal at the time). In a way, Hodge came out a winner; he auctioned the shirt off in 2022 for $9.28 million.
