Greatest World Cup matches: Argentina-England (1998)

Argentina and England still have the only cross-continental rivalry in international football, and when they play it is bound to be a hyped-up media affair. In the 1998 World Cup in France, both teams entered with enormous expectations.
Argentina had put behind them the disappointing scandals of the 1994 World Cup, and coach Daniel Passarella had assembled a strong team with a list of strong players from some of the top clubs in the world. Some of these players included Sampdoria’s Juán Sebastián Verón, Valencia’s Ariel Ortega and Claudio López, Napoli’s Roberto Ayala, Inter’s Diego Simeone and Javier Zanetti, as well as some extraordinary strikers, notably Fiorentina’s Gabriel Batistuta and Parma’s Hernán Crespo.
In spite of the awesome quantity of quality players, the team had been immersed in controversy, not least because of Passarella’s discipline: players were told to cut their hair or they would be out of the team, something that meant the exit of Fernando Redondo and Troglio. Also, there had been controversy regarding rumours of doping and internal disagreements.
Still, Argentina seemed a team in harmony and very strong, starting the tournament with three victories against Japan, Jamaica and Croatia and a score of 7-0.
After not participating in the 1994 World Cup England was now coached by the former star player Glenn Hoddle, and had qualified ahead of Italy in a close group. The team was good, with players from all the strong teams in the Premier League, notably Machester United’s David Beckham, Newcastle’s dangerous striker Alan Shearer, and Liverpool’s Steve McManaman and Paul Ince. Also, the squad included Michael Owen from Liverpool, an 18-year old rising star who already in his first season for Liverpool had been top scorer in the Premier League, and had in may in a friendly match against Morocco already become the youngest player to score for England.
Glenn Hoddle had on the other hand left out players such as Paul Gascoigne (who went into a rage and had to be restrained when he learned that he had not been selected for the squad) and Phil Neville.
Although it was certainly a team to be reckoned with, the English were not as awesome as other teams, and they didn’t necessarily impress in the first round: after opening with an obligatory 2-0 win over Tunisia, the English went on to lose 2-1 against Romania. In this match Michael Owen, who had been left out in the opening match, had come on and scored England’s goal. He had thus started in for the next match against Colombia, where England won 2-0, with David Beckham scoring a beautiful free kick goal.
Now Argentina and England, who had last faced one another in a World Cup in the legendary 1986 quarterfinal, were to face one another again in the last-16, and the entire attention of the football-world immediately shifted to this match in Saint-Étienne.
The match started dramatically: after five minutes Argentina went ahead when the outstanding Fiorentina striker Gabriel Batistuta brought Argentina ahead 1-0 on a penalty kick.
But England had in fact started with the best pace, and four minutes later, Newcastle’s Alan Shearer equalized for England after a penalty kick after the 18-year old young Michael Owen was brought down by Roberto Ayala. It looked very much like a dive by the young Englishman, but the Danish referee Kim Milton gave the penalty anyway.
The match was thus levelled when the 18-year old Michael Owen took matters into his own feet, and scored one of the best goals of world cup history only 16 minutes into the first half: he received a long ball in the Argentine half and slalomed his way towards goal, outrunning the Argentinean defender José Chamot, and elegantly getting around Roberto Ayala in full speed, he kicked the ball perfectly into goal with no chance for the goalkeeper Carlos Roa.
It was incredible work by the youngster, and England was ahead.
The match moved back and forth, with chances for both teams, but nothing happened until the very last minute of the first half; Argentina was given a free kick just outside the English penalty area. In a set kick, Juán Sebastián Verón completely surprised the English defense when, instead of shooting on goal he passed the ball to Inter’s Javier Zanetti standing inside the English area just at the edge of the defensive wall, who turned quickly and elegantly curved the ball around the English goalkeeper David Seaman.
2-2 at halftime in what had been a splendid first half, and the second half started with drama: Diego Simeone had made a foul against Beckham, who in frustration kicked out after Diego Simeone. The Argentinean totally overdid his pain, but the Danish referee was standing right next to the situation, and gave Simeone a yellow card and David Beckham a direct red card.
Beckham’s reaction was obviously thoughtless, and he was blamed for the eventual loss: a headline described the team as: "10 Heroic Lions, One Stupid Boy”, while Beckham for months was followed by hateful taunts wherever he went in England. It was probably a period that matured the elegant and posh player, as he had to win back the confidence of his fans (and he eventually did, as all great players do, acting with more modesty and concentrating on his excellent footballing skills).
England was now pushed back on the defensive against the experienced Argentineans. Indeed, England defended heroically, and even managed to get some big chances, among them an annulled goal by the Tottenham defender Sol Campbell.
The dramatic match ended 2-2, and when the extra time ended goalless, the match had to go into what was a nerve wrecking penalty shootout.
It was looking good for England when the Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman saved Argentina’s second shot, by Hernán Crespo. However, the kicks were levelled already on the next shot when Carlos Roa saved the shot from Liverpool’s Paul Ince.
Everybody scored on the following kicks right up to when Newcastle’s David Batty was to kick the last penalty for England, at the score 4-3 for Argentina. Carlos Roa saved, which meant that Argentina won.
While England went home, Argentina fell in the next round against the Netherlands 2-1 (the victory goal by Dennis Bergkamp was one of the best goals in World Cup history). This quarterfinal between England and Argentina was thus not a match between the two best teams in the world; but the drama, the media hype and the fact that some of the best players in the world were there (and notably Beckham to make the mistake that oddly made him so unpopular in England) turned this into another match to add to the mounting classics of this the only cross-Atlantic rivalry that goes far beyond football; it is about something much deeper that England and Argentina have more in common that any other nations on planet-football: football-passion and –arrogance.

Match Stats:

• 30th June 1998, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
• Attendance: 30,600
• Referee: Kim Milton Nielsen (Denmark)

Argentina-England 2-2 (After Extra Time)
Goals: 1-0 Batistuta (6) (pen)1-1 Shearer (10) (pen)1-2 Owen (16)2-2 Zanetti (45)

Penalty kicks:
Argentina-England 4-3

• 1-0 Berti
• 1-1 Shearer
• Crespo misses for Argentina
• Ince misses for England
• 2-1 Verón
• 2-2 Merson
• 3-2 Gallardo
• 3-3 Owen
• 4-3 Ayala
• Batty misses for England

Teams:
Argentina: Roa; Ayala, Chamot, Almeyda, Simeone (Berti), Ortega, Verón, Vivas, Zanetti, Batistuta (Gallardo), López (Crespo)
England: Seaman; Campbell, Le Saux (Southgate), Ince, Adams, Beckham (RC 47), Neville, Anderton (Batty), Scholes (Merson), Shearer, Owen

Greatest World Cup Matches: Argentina-England (1986)

The quarterfinal of the 1986 World Cup between Argentina and England was immersed in a bitter football and political rivalry between the two countries. In football terms, the rivalry had started in the 1966 World Cup where the English coach Sir Alf Ramsey had called the Argentinean animals. In political terms, the two countries had only three years before ended a short but bloody war over the Falklands Islands in the southern Atlantic.
Although the players denied that the political situation had any influence on the match, the coaches of both teams, Carlos Bilardo and Bobby Robson, told the players not to mention the Falklands, and only talk about football. However, specially the Argentineans could not take the war off their mind, and Maradona later said: "Although we had said before the game that football had nothing to do with the Malvinas war, we knew they had killed a lot of Argentine boys there (…). And this was revenge."
The mid 1980s were a period of crisis for English football, not least for their violent followers, who in 1985 for the European Champions Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus at Heysel had caused the death of 85 fans. This had led to English clubs being banned from international competition, but their national team still competed, albeit under very strict security measures.
England had not started the tournament well, losing to Portugal 0-1 and playing 0-0 with Morocco before securing the second place in their group (behind Morocco) with a 3-0 victory over Poland, in a match where the Everton striker Gary Lineker had scored all three goals.
In the last-16 the English had faced Paraguay, and had won 3-0 on two more goals by Gary Lineker and one by the little Liverpoool star Peter Beardsley.
Argentina had started the tournament very well: a very strong defense and the world’s best footballer, Diego Maradona, had helped them to win their first round group after tying 1-1 with Italy’s defending world champions, and defeating Bulgaria and South Corea. In the last-16 the Argentineans defeated their arch-rivals from Uruguay 1-0, and were now to play England in what became a hugely anticipated match.
Both teams seemed nervous at its importance as the match got underway in the monumental Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. The English perhaps had too little respect for the Argentinean side, and notably Maradona, as the Argentineans slowly started dominating, and had some good chances for bringing themselves ahead, although Peter Beardsley had a god chance when the Argentinean goalkeeper Neri Pumpido made a mistake.
Still, the score was 0-0 at half-time.
Six minutes into the second half came one of the most controversial and infamous moments in World Cup history: Maradona and Valdano were attempting a combination outside the English area, but the Aston Villa defender, Steve Hodge, blocked the pass. However, Hodge hit the ball completely wrong, and it flew backwards high into the English penalty area. Maradona continued his run into the area, against goalkeeper Peter Shilton, and they both jumped for the ball coming down. Maradona, significantly smaller than Peter Shilton, reached the ball with his left hand, and it sailed above Shilton into the English goal.
The English immediately protested to the Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, while the Argentineans celebrated the goal. As the entire world saw the hand on replays on TV while the English players protested, Bin Nasser was surely the only person in the world that had not seen Maradona’s hand. But he was the one who had to make the decision.
Argentina was ahead 1-0, and the English felt cheated, while Maradona famously and ironically said after the match that it had been with a little help from “the hand of God”, something that greatly angered many of the normally so satirically humoured Englishmen.
Maradona had cunningly humilliated England, and that is how all Argentina fans (including myself, who living in Argentina then, was and is an unrepentant Argentina and Maradona fan!) still see that goal in spite of the controversy it arises.
In any case, Argentina was now ahead because of the world’s best footballer’s cheat, but only three minutes later Maradona showed that he was unique, when scoring what has been considered the goal of the century. Receiving the ball from River Plate’s Hector Enrique (who after the match joked that Maradona could not avoid scoring on such a great pass!) in his own half, Maradona made the most stunning rush of 60 meters, past six English players, including Peter Shilton, to score a second for Argentina.
All over the world the goal is legendary. Jorge Valdano has called it another way of tango - of beauty. The Argentinean commentator Victor Hugo Morales perhaps symbolized the sensation for Argentineans as his emotive screams of goals, and his “…Thank you God, for football! For Maradona! For... for these tears…. For this... Argentina 2, England 0.”
Even the English, in spite of bitterness of the first goal, had to recognise the pure genious of the second goal, as the great Gary Lineker later recalled: "The second goal was, and still is, the best goal ever scored. You have to take into account the significance of the football match and the conditions, as it was unbelievably hot and we were playing on a pitch that moved every time you put your foot down. It was pretty unplayable. To do what he did was just extraordinary. I have to say I just stood there on the halfway line and thought, 'Wow'."
England now had to push forward, and suddenly began playing less timidly. The entrance of Liverpool’s John Barnes, helped the Islanders to create some chances against the otherwise very strong Argentinean defense, but it was only nine minutes before the end of the match when Gary Lineker scored his sixth goal of the tournament (making him the most scoring player of the tournament) on a cross from Peter Beardsley.
But it was not enough. The ever-dangerous Argentineans even hit the post a few minutes later on some of the counter-attacks that they were so brilliant at.
Argentina had won 2-1, and went on to win the World Cup by defeating Belgium and West Germany in the following two matches. However, for many people, this was the real final, where the controversy and genious of Maradona reached its pinnacle.
England and Argentina are two of the greatest footballing nations in the world. Perhaps in no other nation the passion about football is as deep-seated as in these two countries.
After this match in particular, they now have the greatest rivalry in international football (the only cross-continental rivalry) and the matches between them are considered a classic in international football.

Match Stats:

• 22nd June 1986, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
• Attendance: 115,000
• Referee: Ali Bin Nasser (Tunisia)

Argentina-England 2-1
Goals: 1-0 Maradona (51), 2-0 Maradona (54), 2-1 Lineker (81)

Teams:
Argentina: Pumpido; Ruggeri, Batista, Brown, Burruchaga (Tapia), Olarticoechea, Cuciuffo, Enrique Giusti, Maradona, Valdano
England: Shilton; Stevens, Sansom, Hoddle, Butcher, Lineker, Fenwick, Reid (Waddle), Steven (Barnes), Hodge, Beardsley

Greatest World Cup matches: England-Argentina (1966)

England and Argentina have one of the most intense rivalries in world football, surely the only classical cross-continental footballing rivalry. Being two of the most passionate footballing nations in the world, and much more closely associated than many know (indeed, the English brought football to Argentina in the 19th century!), the matches they have played have been intense, passionate and controversial.
The rivalry started with this quarterfinal of the 1966 World Cup. Argentina had progressed with victories against Spain and Switzerland, and a 0-0 against West Germany, while England had defeated Mexico and France, while tying 0-0 with Uruguay.
While West Germany faced Uruguay, England faced Argentina in the quarter-final, and the English referee in the former match took the attention of the match as much as the German referee in the latter match, prompting theories of an Anglo-German conspiracy against the South Americans.
The referee of this match, Rudolf Kreitlein from West Germany, had a call that is still considered one of the strangest in World Cup football, and has led to many in Argentina calling this match the “Robbery of the century”: Argentina’s captain, the Boca Juniors legend Antonio “La Rata” Rattín, was suddenly in the 25th minute expelled from the match, being the first player ever to be expelled in a World Cup (red cards had not been introduced yet). In a long discussion with the referee, Rattin refused to leave, and called for a translator, but it was refused. Mr. Kreitlein argued that he had taken the decision, since he “didn’t like how he [Rattín] was looking at me.”
Of course, the entire match was overshadowed by this incident, but when watching the match again one cannot say that the match was specially violent (nothing in comparison with what Portugal had subjected Brazil to in the first round), and Alf Ramsey’s comment after the match seemed out of place: "It seemed a pity so much Argentinian talent is wasted. Our best football will come against the right type of opposition - a team who come to play football, and not act as animals."
This type of comment only added to the bad faith between the two teams, which Alf Ramsey was only too eager to promote: When looking at the TV pictures of the end of the match, one can see players peacefully congratulating each other and ready to exchange shirts, when an over-excited Ramsey runs onto the pitch to prevent the players from exchanging shirts.
In spite of only ten men for the most of the match, Argentina held on against a superior side, until the West Ham striker Geoff Hurst scored the winning goal on a beautiful header in the 78th minute on a great pass by the young Martin Peters.
Hurst had not played any of the first round matches, but had started against Argentina when Jimmy Greaves was injured.
England was the better team of the two in spite of Argentina playing a fine match. Still, the fact that they were better is certainly overshadowed by the bad refereeing, as much as it would be 20 years later in another World Cup quarterfinal...
To this date, there is nothing but hate between the English and Argentinean fans, which is a pity considering that they are both great teams that have played intense matches with lousy referees.

Match Stats:

• 23rd July 1966, Wembley Stadium, London
• Attendance 90,000
• Referee: Rudolf Kreitlein (West Germany)

England-Argentina 1-0
Goals: 1-0 Hurst (78)

Teams:
England: Banks; Cohen, Wilson, Stiles, J. Charlton, Moore, Ball, B. Charlton, Peters, Hunt, Hurst
Argentina: Roma; Irusta, Perfumo, Marzolini, Ferreiro, Rattin (RC, 25), Solari, Gonzalez, Ortime, Onega, Mas