In Focus - Maradona, the World Cup wonder - video Dailymotion

A look at how impactful Diego Maradona was in Argentina's triumph in the 1986 FIFA World Cup

Transcript

00:00Diego Maradona is one of the most iconic players in FIFA World Cup history, appearing in four

00:10tournaments between the ages of 21 and 33. Here we focus on how the Mercurio Argentine lit up the

00:161986 FIFA World Cup on the way to lifting the trophy for his nation in a StatsPerform data

00:21dive. During that tournament in Mexico, Maradona either scored or assisted 10 of Argentina's 14

00:28goals on the way to being crowned world champions. He finished as second top goalscorer behind Gary

00:33Lineker, but led the assist rankings, creating the most goals for his teammates. He remains the

00:39only player since 1966 to have both scored and assisted as many as five goals in a single World

00:45Cup. In fact, Maradona is still the last player to have 10 goal involvements of any sort in a single

00:50World Cup, and the only player to have achieved defeats since 1970. Maradona's importance to

00:55Argentina's side in 1986 was obvious. He was involved in more than half of their shots,

01:00either making the final pass before or attempting 57 of their 101 shots himself.

01:07No player has beaten an opponent with more take-ons in a single World Cup than Maradona did in 1986.

01:13He successfully took the ball around an opponent 53 times in that tournament, averaging eight per game.

01:19Four of those successful take-ons in 1986 came in just one single move. The build-up to his goal of

01:25the century against England in the quarter-finals. Maradona travelled 51 metres with the ball on

01:30the way to scoring his second goal of that game, and his first without using his hand. Only three

01:36World Cup goals since 1966 have seen a player travel further with the ball before scoring.

01:42He also proved that he was as equally adept with his hands as he was with his feet. Excluding the one he

01:47famously got away with against England, he gave away seven fouls for handballed in World Cups,

01:52which is more than any other player, so some pretty punchy numbers. There's no doubt that

01:57Maradona's performances for Argentina in 1986 make up one of the most impressive individual

02:02World Cup campaigns of all time, and the data shines more light on just how special he was

02:07during the Albi Celeste's second title.