The story behind Argentina’s improvised kits in the 1986 World Cup final against England

Argentina’s 2-1 quarterfinal victory over England in 1986 remains one of the most iconic World Cup games of all time.

With the Falklands War between the two countries still fresh in the memory, and almost 115,000 fans packed into the legendary Estadio Azteca in the searing Mexico City heat, Diego Maradona scored two of the most memorable goals in soccer history within the space of five minutes.

Memorable, of course, for two entirely different reasons.

First came the Argentine’s infamous “Hand of God” goal, as he leapt to punch the ball into the net ahead of England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who had raced off his line. Tunisian referee Ali Ben Nasser thought Maradona had used his head.

Four minutes later, Maradona collected possession inside his own half and immediately set off toward goal, dribbling past four defenders, including England captain Terry Butcher twice, before rounding Shilton to score what would later be named the “Goal of the Century.”

Argentina’s unexpected kit problem

It turns out, however, that perhaps the greatest goal of all time was scored in an improvised “fake” kit.

Because of a potential color clash with England’s white home shirt, Argentina were due to play the quarterfinal in their dark blue away jersey, which players had complained was much heavier than their classic white-and-sky-blue-striped home uniform.

The high temperatures in the Mexican capital would have weighed them down even further, but there was no time for manufacturer Le Coq Sportif to come up with a new design at such short notice, as manager Carlos Bilardo had requested.

So Plan B kicked into action.

The solution: Mexico City markets

The story goes that backup goalkeeper Héctor Miguel Zelada, who played for Club América at the time, suggested scouring the local markets in Tepito, a barrio in Mexico City, for a suitable lighter jersey in a similar shade of blue.

Rubén Moschella, a member of Argentina’s coaching staff, returned with two blue shirts, neither of which particularly convinced Bilardo. However, Bilardo was not going to have to wear one. Maradona was.

The No. 10 decided he quite liked the shinier of the two tops, and that was that. Moschella headed back out to the market and bought shirts for the entire squad, onto which makeshift Argentina Football Association badges were sewn, along with ironed-on American football numbers.

“We’ll beat England in that,” Maradona said.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Maradona’s match-worn jersey from the game sold for more than £7.1 million, almost $9.7 million, at Sotheby’s in London in May 2022.

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