Argentina's tournament was Maradona's tournament. He scored five goals and assisted five more, but the statistics barely capture his influence. Every attack ran through him. Every opponent built their plan around stopping him. None succeeded. Against England in the quarter-final, he scored both the most infamous and the greatest goals in World Cup history within four minutes.

West Germany came back from 2-0 down to equalise with seven minutes remaining. The final seemed destined for extra time. Then Maradona threaded a perfect through-ball to Jorge Burruchaga, who ran onto it and finished coolly. Argentina 3, West Germany 2. Maradona was carried off the pitch. It was the most complete individual tournament performance in World Cup history and may never be surpassed.

Colombia was the original host but withdrew due to economic crisis. Mexico stepped in for the second time. Diego Maradona, already considered the best player in the world, was arriving at his peak. England and Argentina had not met since the Falklands War four years earlier.

Mexico City had been devastated by a massive earthquake just months earlier, killing thousands. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster struck in April 1986. The Iran-Iraq war ground on. The Cold War was entering its final chapter, but nobody knew it yet.

Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, León, Querétaro, Nezahualcóyotl, Toluca, and Irapuato hosted matches. Mexico City, still recovering from the September 1985 earthquake, showed remarkable resilience. Monterrey, the industrial capital of the north, provided modern facilities. Teams trained at club grounds and university campuses. The heat and altitude remained challenging for European squads.

The tournament served as a symbol of Mexican resilience after the earthquake disaster. International attention and sympathy translated into tourism and goodwill. Host cities received infrastructure investment that aided post-earthquake reconstruction. The economic impact was significant for a country managing both natural disaster recovery and an ongoing debt crisis. Mexico demonstrated its capacity to organise major events under the most difficult circumstances.

Diego Maradona's tournament is the single greatest individual performance in World Cup history five goals, five assists, and a gravitational pull that warped every match around him. Gary Lineker scored six goals to win the Golden Boot. Emilio Butragueño scored four against Denmark. Michel Platini was fading but still France's conductor.

The Hand of God and the Goal of the Century came four minutes apart in the same match cheating and genius from the same man. Maradona's run against Belgium in the semifinal was nearly as good as the England goal. Lineker's hat-trick against Poland kept England alive. Josimar's thunderbolt from full-back for Brazil was the tournament's forgotten wonder goal.