Diego Maradona’s Top 5 Goals
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Diego Maradona did not always have a quiet life off the pitch. Today we count down his top five goals of all time.
Diego Maradona was an iconic Argentine football player and manager who was joint winner of the FIFA Player of the 20th Century. Nicknamed El Pibe de Oro, meaning The Golden Boy, his legendary skills on the pitch were overshadowed by the bans he received in 1991 and 1994 for drug abuse. Maradona died in 2020 at the age of 60 but his iconic goals including The Hand of God and Goal of the Century live on in fans’ minds across the globe. This unique T Shirt charts his career by featuring the city of each club Diego Maradona has played for.
Top 5 Goals Scored by Diego Maradona
The iconic Hand of God goal has defined Diego Maradona’s career as a player. Argentina met England in the quarter finals of the 1986 World Cup held in Mexico – a tournament the Argentine national side would go on to win. The controversial match ended in a 2-1 victory to Argentina with the first and illegal goal allowed due to referees having a poor line of sight.
Maradona's goal was named the Hand of God because of his initial response to the goal being allowed, saying at the time it was made “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.” In May 2022, the T Shirt Maradona wore during the match was auctioned by Sotheby’s on behalf of former English international Steve Hodge and sold for £7.1m – a record for sports memorabilia.
In the same World Cup tournament, Diego Maradona faced Belgium with his national side on the 25th of June. There were 115,000 spectators in the Estadio Azteca and at one point Maradona was faced with several Belgian players who he tackled head on. The game ended 2-0 to Argentina with Maradona later recalling the game in his autobiography; “For the second, the credit was Cuciuffo’s and Valdono’s, who made it for me.”
Diego Maradona was only 33 years of age when he scored his final goal for Argentina. The national team met Greece in the Group D stage of the World Cup held in Massachusetts, USA.
Their opening match on the 21st of June ended in victory with a final score of 4-0. Gabriel Batistuta scored a hat trick but nine days later his Argentine teammate failed a drugs test and was sent home – it was the last time Maradona played for his national team.
On the 18th of June 1982, Argentina met Hungary at the Estadio Jose Rico Perez in Alicante, Spain. There were 32,093 spectators there to witness Argentina’s 4-1 victory – two of the goals scored by Diego Maradona. The goals exemplify Maradona’s low centre of gravity due to his short stature which gave him greater flexibility when manoeuvring around his opponents.
The final goal was chosen to show Maradona’s determination to always play the best football he could when on the pitch. On the 5th of June 1986, Argentina found themselves in a second group stage clash with Italy. Maradona was 25 at the time and the Italians gave him little room for breathing space but he trusted his instincts and looked for the ball when necessary. The game ended in a 1-1 draw with Maradona scoring the only goal for Argentina at Puebla’s Estadio Cuauhtémoc.
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