Maradona picked up the ball in his own half, turned towards the England goal and ran. Sixty yards and eleven seconds later it was in the net.
Beardsley went first. Then Reid, then Butcher, then Fenwick, then Butcher again for good measure. Last came the goalkeeper, Shilton, rounded before Maradona slotted the ball into the empty net. Five England players beaten, one of them twice.
It was the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, the score finished Argentina 2-1 England, and the goal came in the 55th minute. Just four minutes earlier Maradona had scored the Hand of God in the same match. It is hard to think of a stranger four minutes in any World Cup: the most controversial goal of the tournament, followed by the finest.
Why the Goal of the Century is number one
Because nobody has matched it. Not at a World Cup, and arguably not anywhere else.
In 2002 FIFA ran a worldwide poll and supporters officially voted it the Goal of the Century. It is replayed more than any other goal in football history and it remains the benchmark for individual brilliance. When anyone scores a long solo goal now, the first comparison anyone reaches for is Mexico City in 1986.
The details are what make it. Maradona was short, low to the ground, with the ball glued to his left foot, and the England defenders kept arriving a fraction too late. Some of them were good defenders. None of them got a touch.
We picked it as the best World Cup goal ever scored, and it will be very hard to replace.
Thank you for following World Cup Goals
Over the past 30 days we have counted down the finest goals in World Cup history, from Van Persie's flying header to Maradona's Goal of the Century. Taken together they make one point clearly: the World Cup is the stage where footballers produce their very best.
What is your number one World Cup goal? Tell us in the comments.
