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England's unfortunate World Cup history in Mexico: Revisiting 1970, 1986 and Diego Maradona's Hand of God originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
England are in Mexico for a World Cup match, and it's happening again.
Not long after the Three Lions had arrived in Mexico City for their first training session, acclimatising to the punishing factor of playing at altitude, FIFA was on manoeuvres.
The Round of 16 encounter at the Azteca, scheduled on Sunday at 6 p.m. local time (8 p.m. ET, 1 a.m. Monday for hardy souls back in the UK), was seemingly on the move.
Storms forecast in the Mexican capital meant plans were afoot to move the kickoff forward six hours, which would have had the potential knock-on of shunting Brazil vs. Norway in New Jersey back an hour from its 4 p.m. start time.
After hours of conjecture, it was decided to keep things as it was. The elements be damned. Pub landlords in England will be able to make the most of extended opening hours, and the police and emergency services will cross their fingers.
Strange things happen when England play in Mexico at the World Cup.
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England World Cup record in Mexico
Across the tournaments in 1970 and 1986, England have played nine World Cup matches in Mexico.
Their overall record reads four wins, one draw, and four defeats.
1970 World Cup: Collapse vs. West Germany
England's preparations as defending champions were disrupted before they even arrived in Mexico for their 1970 quarterfinal, when World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore was arrested on suspicion of stealing a bracelet from a jewellery shop in a Bogota hotel.
England were in Colombia for a pre-tournament friendly that they won 4-0. They then went on to beat Ecuador 2-0 in Quito and, when they returned to the same hotel before taking a connecting flight to Mexico, Moore was detained by Colombian police.
He was later released without charge, although the incident hardly amounted to build-up to contesting a group featuring Brazil. World Cup final hero Geoff Hurst secured a 1-0 win over Romania in their opening game and after losing to the Selecao by the same scoreline — a game where Moore's tackle on Pele and Gordon Banks' miraculous save from the great Brazilian arguably overshadowed the winning goal from Jairzinho — an Allan Clarke penalty sank Czechoslovakia.
MORE:England vs. Mexico history: Head-to-head matches at World Cup
Progression as runners-up in Group 3 set up a rematch of the 1966 final against West Germany. Alan Mullery and Martin Peters, who also scored in the final four years earlier, had Alf Ramsey's side 2-0 up and cruising early in the second half. But then the roof fell in on the champions.
First-choice goalkeeper Banks had been ruled out on the eve of the game by food poisoning and his replacement, Peter Bonetti, was culpable for letting Franz Beckenbauer's speculative long-range drive squirm underneath him.
Ramsey substituted Bobby Charlton and Peters, sending on Colin Bell and Norman Hunter to provide fresh legs. But the younger men could not prevent England from wilting in the Mexican heat. Uwe Seeler equalised eight minutes from time and master poacher Gerd Muller secured a stunning 3-2 win for Germany in extra time.
1986 World Cup: Maradona's Hand of God
In many respects, it was a wonder England arrived to take part in arguably the most infamous game in World Cup history.
Beaten 1-0 by Portugal in their opening game, Bobby Robson's side laboured to a 0-0 draw with Morocco in Monterrey after Ray Wilkins was sent off.
Staring at elimination, Gary Lineker's first-half hat-trick sealed a cathartic 3-0 win over Poland. England then headed to the Azteca, where Paraguay were dispatched by the same scoreline, Lineker bagging a brace en route to the Golden Boot either side of an early second-half goal from Peter Beardsley.
Then came the titanic quarterfinal showdown with Argentina and Diego Maradona.
England tried to roughhouse the great No. 10 to the margins of the game and he responded with an audacious sleight of hand — with his actual hand. The diminutive attacker leapt with England goalkeeper Peter Shilton to divert a looping ball into the goal, quite clearly with his outstretched fist. The linesman didn't notice, and the goal stood.
England were furious, and a few moments later, they were flat on the canvas as Maradona scored one of the greatest solo goals ever seen on a soccer field, dribbling from his own half past four England challenges to double the lead.
Robson's team regrouped after that. The introduction of John Barnes for the final 15 minutes had Argentina scrambling and led to Lineker's customary goal, but Argentina hung on and remained on course for glory.
England all-time results at the Azteca
The games against Paraguay and Argentina are England's only competitive matches at Mexican soccer's great cathedral heading into Sunday's World Cup showdown.
They also drew a 1969 friendly against Mexico 0-0 and lost 1-0 to the hosts in 1985. That match was one of three friendlies across intersecting triangular tournaments a year prior to Mexico hosting the World Cup. It means three of England's previous six matches at the Azteca took place in the space of six June days in 1985.
In the Ciudad de Mexico Cup Tournament, England lost 2-1 to Italy and went down to Luis Enrique Flores' goal against Mexico. That match also counted as the first match of the Azteca 2000 tournament, where West Germany effectively replaced Italy in a new triangular.
England beat the Germans 3-0 thanks to an opening goal from Bryan Robson and a Kerry Dixon brace.
Mexico have only lost two of 89 competitive games played at the Azteca, winning 70 and drawing 17.
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