"The Hand of God" (Spanish: La mano de Dios) is the name given to the opening goal awarded to Argentine footballer Diego Maradona during Argentina's victory over England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup. The goal, which was illegal under association football rules, was allowed to stand because none of the match referees had a clear view of Maradona using his left hand to score. After the goal gave Argentina a 1–0 lead in the quarter final game, Maradona went onto score a second goal known as the "Goal of the Century" four minutes later. Argentina eventually won the quarter final 2–1; en route to them winning their second World Cup.
The goal's name derives from Maradona's initial response on whether he scored it legally, stating it was made "a little with the head of Maradona, and a little with the hand of God". In time, Maradona acknowledged he had illegally handled the ball, stating that he considered the goal to be "symbolic revenge" for Argentina's defeat by the United Kingdom in the 1982 Falklands War.
Goal
Illustrated sequence of the move of the "Hand of God" goal
Six minutes into the second half of the quarter final game, Maradona took the ball out of the box with his left leg and passed it to teammate Jorge Valdano. Valdano tried to take on several English defenders, but the ball was intercepted and thrown back and forth and kicked towards England's goal by English midfielder Steve Hodge.
Because of the position of the players, Maradona would have been caught offside, but as the ball came off an opponent, there was no offside offence. Alone inside the penalty box and with the ball dropping down, Maradona contested the ball with goalkeeperPeter Shilton, who stood 20 centimetres (8 inches) taller than Maradona. Shilton jumped forward with his right hand, while Maradona did so with his left arm outstretched. Maradona's fist, which was raised close to his head, struck the ball first causing the ball to loop over the English goalkeeper and into the net. Maradona began to celebrate while glancing sideways at the referee and the linesman for confirmation. He then fully celebrated the goal when it was given.
Although the TunisianrefereeAli Ben Nasser initially gave the goal, protests from the English players' made him seek advice from his second linesman who confirmed the goal. Maradona was interviewed about what happened after the game; his reply immortalised the incident:
Ahora sí puedo contar lo que en aquel momento no podía, lo que en aquel momento definí como «La mano de Dios»... ¿Qué mano de Dios? ¡fue la mano del Diego!
Translation:
Now I can say what I couldn't at that moment, what I defined at that time as The Hand of God. What hand of God? It was the hand of Diego!
Mexican photographer Alejandro Ojeda Carbajal captured the moment in a photograph that unequivocally shows Maradona handling the ball with his left hand moments before scoring the opener in the quarter final game between Argentina and England.[2]
Apology
In 2005, 19 years after scoring the goal, Maradona admitted on the Argentinean television program La Noche del 10 that he had scored the goal with his hand. Several world media outlets reported Maradona apology for the handball creating controversy.[3] Peter Shilton rejected the apology, saying that it was now too late.[4]
Symbolism
In the 2019 documentary film Diego Maradona directed by Asif Kapadia, Maradona links the event to the Falklands War four years earlier, saying "[w]e, as Argentinians, didn't know what the military was up to. They told us that we were winning the war. But in reality, England was winning 20–0. It was tough. The hype made it seem like we were going to play out another war. I knew it was my hand. It wasn't my plan but the action happened so fast that the linesman didn't see me putting my hand in. The referee looked at me and he said: 'Goal.' It was a nice feeling like some sort of symbolic revenge against the English."[5]
Ivan Lopez-Muniz wrote in 2017 that in Argentina the "entire nation", including the Government and the Argentine Football Association, still "praises the most blatant act of cheating ever caught on tape", partly because "Argentines are humans, and humans are hypocrites" but also because of a long history of grievances against the United Kingdom, that includes not only the 1982 Falklands War, but other matters such as England manager Alf Ramsay calling the Argentine players "animals" after Argentine Captain Antonio Rattín was sent off against England in the 1966 World Cup, as well as Britain's invasions of the future Argentine capital Buenos Aires in 1806 and 1807, and its reassertion of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (known to Argentines as Las Malvinas) "in 1832".[6][a]
Other football observers have also called the goal a physical embodiment of viveza criolla (roughly translating to 'native cunning'), a philosophy commonly associated with South America which more or less justifies the path taken to succeed even if it is unfair.[7]
Subsequent use
The "Hand of God" became a popular phrase and is still referred to around the world. Some other famous football handballs are:
In the first round of the 1990 World Cup between Argentina and the Soviet Union, in the first half of the 2–0 win, a Soviet attack failed as Maradona intercepted the shot with "the hand of God" without the referee noticing.[8]
In the 2004 AFC Asian Cup Final between China and Japan, Koji Nakata scored Japan's second goal by hand, which would later stand, much to the dismay of Chinese fans as the Chinese hosts lost 3–1 to the eventual champions.[9]
During a league match against Espanyol on 9 June 2007, Argentinian Barcelona player Lionel Messi scored by launching himself at the ball and guiding it past the goalkeeper with his hand in similar fashion to Maradona's Hand of God goal.[10]
During the final minutes of the second leg of the play-off for the 2010 World Cup between Ireland and France, William Gallas scored the decisive goal from a Thierry Henry assist that gave France a 2–1 aggregate victory and qualified them for the World Cup. Controversy followed immediately as replays showed Henry repeatedly centering the ball with his hands moments prior to passing the ball to Gallas. Despite protests from the Irish side, Swedish referee Martin Hansson did not admonish Henry and allowed the goal. After the match ended, sports media from around the world gave Henry's cross several nicknames, ranging from "The New Hand of God",[11] to the more scathing "The Hand of Frog", the latter using an insulting term towards French people.[12]
Uruguayan footballer Luis Suárez illegally stopped with his hand a likely goal from GhanaianDominic Adiyiah in the quarter-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Suárez was shown the red card; nonetheless, Uruguay survived and overcame Ghana on penalties. At the subsequent press conference, the striker said he had done so with the "Hand of God",[13] and it later became popularly known as "Hand of God 2.0".[14]
On 11 February 2020, in Group G of the 2020 AFC Cup, Joshua Grommen of Ceres-Negros F.C. scored the second goal of their game against Preah Khan Reach Svay Rieng FC by diverting the ball into the net with his hand. Despite vocal protests from the opposing side, the goal was given as officials had failed to notice the blatant handball.[15]
The legacy of "Hand of God" has extended beyond the realm of football. Paolo Sorrentino’s semi-autobiographical 2021 drama is named after the incident and references Diego Maradona's influence on 1980s Naples.
Maradona’s shirt
After the game Maradona swapped his shirt in the tunnel with Steve Hodge. After many years of requests to sell the shirt and a period of 20 years where it was on loan at the National Football Museum, in 2022 Hodge placed it up for auction with auctioneers Sotheby's.[16] On the 4 May 2022, the shirt sold at auction for £7,100,000, a world record for a piece of sports memorabilia.[17]
↑Ivan Lopez-Muniz (5 April 2017). "Diego Maradona's Hand of God proved that cheating isn't always immoral". Howler Magazine. ESPN. Retrieved 9 July 2021. But people in Argentina continue to celebrate the Hand of God. The Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (AFA) includes the play in its promo reels. The Argentine government airs it on public TV. An entire nation praises the most blatant act of cheating ever caught on tape. ... Because Argentines are humans, and humans are hypocrites. But there is also all that history, the stuff I mentioned before, as well as our failed attempt to reclaim Las Malvinas in 1982. ... Quite simply, it means that Maradona, on that day, was an Englishman. (Link to Howler Magazine)
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