{"id":57953,"title":"Diego Maradona\u2019s Top 5 Goals","description":"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.","content":"<p>JULY 12, 2022<span style=\"font-family:'Open Sans';\"> \u2022 JEFF RILEY<\/span><\/p><h4><strong>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.<\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/lovethegame.co\/products\/diego-maradona-t-shirt?_pos=1&amp;_sid=605fd86c5&amp;_ss=r\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Diego Maradona<\/a> was an iconic Argentine football player and manager who was joint winner of the <em>FIFA Player of the 20<sup>th<\/sup> Century<\/em>. Nicknamed <em>El Pibe de Oro<\/em>, meaning <em>The Golden Boy<\/em>, 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 <em>The Hand of God<\/em> and <em>Goal of the Century<\/em> live on in fans\u2019 minds across the globe. This <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/collection\/el-pibe-de-oro\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unique T Shirt<\/a> charts his career by featuring the city of each club Diego Maradona has played for.<\/h4><h4><strong>Top 5 Goals Scored by Diego Maradona<\/strong><\/h4><p><strong><u>1.\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1loSSkcEMC4\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><u>Argentina V England 1986<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p><p>The iconic <em>Hand of God<\/em> goal has defined Diego Maradona\u2019s career as a player. Argentina met England in the quarter finals of the 1986 World Cup held in Mexico \u2013 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.<\/p><p>Maradona's goal was named the <em>Hand of God<\/em> because of his initial response to the goal being allowed, saying at the time it was made <em>\u201ca little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.\u201d <\/em>In May 2022, the T Shirt Maradona wore during the match was auctioned by <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sothebys.com\/en\/digital-catalogues\/the-hand-of-god\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sotheby\u2019s<\/a> on behalf of former English international Steve Hodge and sold for \u00a37.1m \u2013 a record for sports memorabilia.<img src=\"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/urelcdcvjagmsmrziicn9wtub44qkptbtjauggs5rwuqrw5w.png.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"urelcdcvjagmsmrziicn9wtub44qkptbtjauggs5rwuqrw5w.png.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" \/><strong><u>2.\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=onz2-muMwKQ\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><u>Argentina V Belgium 1986<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p><p>In the same World Cup tournament, Diego Maradona faced Belgium with his national side on the 25<sup>th<\/sup> of June. There were 115,000 spectators in the Estadio Azteca and at one point <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/football\/blog\/2014\/jul\/05\/diego-maradona-belgium-famous-photo\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Maradona was faced with several Belgian players<\/a> who he tackled head on. The game ended 2-0 to Argentina with Maradona later recalling the game in his autobiography; <em>\u201cFor the second, the credit was Cuciuffo\u2019s and Valdono\u2019s, who made it for me.\u201d<\/em><\/p><p><strong><u>3.\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9CLA-jFzGxM\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><u>Argentina V Greece 1994<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p><p>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.<\/p><p>Their opening match on the 21<sup>st<\/sup> of June ended in victory with a final score of 4-0. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-57uysjS_R4\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gabriel Batistuta<\/a>scored a hat trick but nine days later his Argentine teammate failed a drugs test and was sent home \u2013 it was the last time Maradona played for his national team.\u00a0<img src=\"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/qfpckvytuymsa1zbuivrbxu8n9ownv3vmtvhsi1crkrcwmok.png.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"qfpckvytuymsa1zbuivrbxu8n9ownv3vmtvhsi1crkrcwmok.png.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" \/><strong><u>4.\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/SjYj5yjT1z4\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Argentina V Hungary 1982<\/strong><\/a><\/p><p>On the 18<sup>th<\/sup> of June 1982, Argentina met Hungary at the Estadio Jose Rico Perez in Alicante, Spain. There were 32,093 spectators there to witness Argentina\u2019s 4-1 victory \u2013 two of the goals scored by Diego Maradona. The goals exemplify Maradona\u2019s low centre of gravity due to his short stature which gave him greater flexibility when manoeuvring around his opponents.<\/p><p><strong><u>5.\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/maloACe19q0\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Argentina V Italy 1986<\/strong><\/a><\/p><p>The final goal was chosen to show Maradona\u2019s determination to always play the best football he could when on the pitch. On the 5<sup>th<\/sup> 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\u2019s Estadio Cuauht\u00e9moc.<img src=\"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/splcmwx1brcl95rfzvggsicp5ks2fkpctxqypdur694qzx6k.png.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" alt=\"splcmwx1brcl95rfzvggsicp5ks2fkpctxqypdur694qzx6k.png.jpg?w=1140&amp;h=auto\" \/><\/p>","urlTitle":"diego-maradonas-top-5-goals","url":"\/blog\/diego-maradonas-top-5-goals\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/diego-maradonas-top-5-goals\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/lovethegame.co\/blog\/diego-maradonas-top-5-goals\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1787645072,"updatedAt":1787646392,"publishedAt":1787646392,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":444185,"name":"Love The Game Co"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/9qfo7ibyuagqxlsyllsttt7gw3j10exraqtaegsedfgfhimf.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/9qfo7ibyuagqxlsyllsttt7gw3j10exraqtaegsedfgfhimf.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/9qfo7ibyuagqxlsyllsttt7gw3j10exraqtaegsedfgfhimf.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":57951,"title":"Bobby Moore OBE; 27 years gone, forever a legend","url":"\/blog\/bobby-moore-obe-27-years-gone-forever-a-legend\/","urlTitle":"bobby-moore-obe-27-years-gone-forever-a-legend","division":444185,"description":"Bobby Moore OBE; 27 years gone, forever a legend","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/v3tn8wne8b8z5m5macsb4nrj2q9eemgdve8cuvo1nwiab5fp.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/v3tn8wne8b8z5m5macsb4nrj2q9eemgdve8cuvo1nwiab5fp.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":57954,"title":"5 Facts You Didn\u2019t Know About Stamford Bridge","url":"\/blog\/5-facts-you-didnt-know-about-stamford-bridge\/","urlTitle":"5-facts-you-didnt-know-about-stamford-bridge","division":444185,"description":"Stamford Bridge has been the iconic home of Chelsea FC since 1905.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/dwdvmwgabkxxsd2vakvlnxjzs14lp2ywlbrlmbqoyf6m24wy.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/dwdvmwgabkxxsd2vakvlnxjzs14lp2ywlbrlmbqoyf6m24wy.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":57952,"title":"10 Facts You Didn\u2019t Know About Liverpool Football Club","url":"\/blog\/10-facts-you-didnt-know-about-liverpool-football-club\/","urlTitle":"10-facts-you-didnt-know-about-liverpool-football-club","division":444185,"description":"Liverpool FC was founded in 1892 and has played every home game since at their legendary ground Anfield. But how much do you really know about Liverpool Football Club?","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/sqxaob8wsogrbm4gwe4qfrdrptr24ejnbqaouuyzd0nztbjm.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/sqxaob8wsogrbm4gwe4qfrdrptr24ejnbqaouuyzd0nztbjm.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}