England v Argentina revisited

Maradona scored two goals against England in 1986

By Simon Austin BBC Sport Online

England's tussle with Argentina promises to be one of the early highlights in Korea and Japan.

The two countries have produced some fabulous World Cup matches in the past.

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1962: First round
Argentina 1-3 England
Rancagua, Chile

The two adversaries met in Group D.

Argentina had already won a match, beating Bulgaria 1-0, but England were beaten 2-1 by outstanding Hungary in their first match.

So victory was crucial if England were to qualify for the quarter-finals.

England made an excellent start when Ron Flowers put them ahead in the 17th minute with a penalty after Navarro had hand-balled.

A young Bobby Charlton added the second before half-time and prolific striker Jimmy Greaves put England three up before José Francisco Sanfilippo scored a late consolation for Argentina.

Argentina drew their next match against Hungary and made an early exit from the tournament.

England went through to the quarter-finals but were defeated 3-1 by Garrincha-inspired Brazil.

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1966: Quarter-finals
Argentina 0-1 England
Wembley, England

This time the sides met in the last eight.

A great game was anticipated but Argentina spoilt the spectacle by committing a barrage of fouls.

Their captain, Antonio Rattin, failed to control his side and harassed the referee so much that he was eventually sent off.

He took almost 10 minutes to leave the pitch and had to be ushered off by Fifa officials.

England laboured to make their numerical advantage count but eventually made the breakthrough with the game's only goal, from Geoff Hurst.

England manager Alf Ramsay was extremely critical of the Argentines after the game, although his side progressed to win the tournament.

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1986: Quarter-finals
Argentina 2-1 England
Mexico City, Mexico

This game will forever be remembered for Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' goal.

Argentina's talisman punched the ball past England keeper Peter Shilton and into the net early in the second half for the opener.

Maradona's second goal was sensational

Just minutes later, he scored one of the greatest goals in World Cup history.

The diminutive playmaker collected the ball near the half-way line and evaded several desperate tackles before slotting past Shilton.

England managed to grab a goal back, when substitute John Barnes crossed for Gary Lineker to score, but it came too late and they lost 2-1.

Argentina, inspired by Maradona, went on to claim their second World Cup.

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1998: Second round
Argentina 2-2 England
(Argentina win 4-3 on pens)
St Etienne, France

An incident-packed match which saw England dumped out of the World Cup on penalties.

Argentina took the lead in the fourth minute with an emphatic penalty from Gabriel Batistuta, who had been brought down by David Seaman.

Beckham is sent off for kicking out

Alan Shearer quickly equalised, through another penalty, before his striking partner Michael Owen scored the goal that catapulted him to star status.

The teenage striker picked up a pass deep in Argentina's half, beat Jose Chamot and Roberto Ayala with his bewildering pace and then coolly curled the ball past keeper Carlos Roa.

Argentina drew level on the stroke of half-time when Javier Zanetti scored from a cleverly taken free-kick.

The game took a dramatic turn early in the second half when England's David Beckham kicked out at Diego Simeone after being fouled by the Argentine midfielder.

Referee Kim Milton Nielsen had no hesitation in sending the Manchester United midfielder off.

England managed to hold their own through the remainder of the 90 minutes and extra-time.

Then came the dreaded penalty shoot-out. Each side missed one spot-kick before David Batty's weak shot was comfortably saved by Roa.

Ayala stepped up to send Argentina through.