No noise. No nonsense. Just England.
Hosted by Mexico
England: Quarter-finals
How England performed
England went through qualifying Group 3 for the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico unbeaten, with four wins and four draws, scoring 21 goals and conceding two. The wins included an 8–0 victory in Turkey and a 5–0 defeat of Turkey at home in which Lineker scored a hat-trick.
Bobby Robson's side, captained by Bryan Robson, made a difficult start to the finals, losing 1–0 to Portugal and drawing 0–0 with Morocco. Lineker then scored a first-half hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Poland that took England through, and he added two more in a 3–0 round-of-16 win over Paraguay, Beardsley scoring the other. The run ended in the quarter-final, where England lost 2–1 to Argentina, Maradona scoring twice before Lineker replied in the 80th minute. Lineker finished with six goals in the finals, and England's record read two wins, one draw and two defeats, with seven goals scored and three conceded.
England fixtures
England
5–0
Finland
England won
England: Hateley 29', Woodcock 40', Hateley 49', Robson 71', Sansom 85'
Finland: None
Turkey
0–8
England
England won
England: Robson 13', Robson 17', Woodcock 44', Barnes 47', Barnes 53', Robson 59', Woodcock 61', Anderson 86'
Turkey: None
Northern Ireland
0–1
England
England won
England: Hateley 77'
Northern Ireland: None
Romania
0–0
England
England drew
Finland
1–1
England
England drew
England: Hateley 50'
Finland: Rantanen 5'
England
1–1
Romania
England drew
England: Hoddle 25'
Romania: Cămătaru 65'
England
5–0
Turkey
England won
England: Waddle 15', Lineker 18', Robson 35', Lineker 42', Lineker 53'
Turkey: None
England
0–0
Northern Ireland
England drew
Portugal
1–0
England
England lost
England: None
Portugal: Carlos Manuel 76'
England
0–0
Morocco
England drew
England
3–0
Poland
England won
England: Lineker 9', Lineker 14', Lineker 34'
Poland: None
England
3–0
Paraguay
England won
England: Lineker 31', Beardsley 56', Lineker 73'
Paraguay: None
Argentina
2–1
England
England lost
England: Lineker 80'
Argentina: Maradona 51', Maradona 54'
England statistics
Full England squad
| No. | Player | Pos | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Shilton | GK | Southampton | – |
| 2 | Gary M. Stevens | DF | Everton | – |
| 3 | Kenny Sansom | DF | Arsenal | 1 |
| 4 | Glenn Hoddle | MF | Tottenham Hotspur | 1 |
| 5 | Alvin Martin | DF | West Ham United | – |
| 6 | Terry Butcher | DF | Ipswich Town | – |
| 7 | Bryan Robson C | MF | Manchester United | 5 |
| 8 | Ray Wilkins | MF | Milan | – |
| 9 | Mark Hateley | FW | Milan | 4 |
| 10 | Gary Lineker | FW | Everton | 9 |
| 11 | Chris Waddle | MF | Tottenham Hotspur | 1 |
| 12 | Viv Anderson | DF | Arsenal | 1 |
| 13 | Chris Woods | GK | Norwich City | – |
| 14 | Terry Fenwick | DF | Queens Park Rangers | – |
| 15 | Gary A. Stevens | DF | Tottenham Hotspur | – |
| 16 | Peter Reid | MF | Everton | – |
| 17 | Trevor Steven | MF | Everton | – |
| 18 | Steve Hodge | MF | Aston Villa | – |
| 19 | John Barnes | MF | Watford | 2 |
| 20 | Peter Beardsley | FW | Newcastle United | 1 |
| 21 | Kerry Dixon | FW | Chelsea | – |
| 22 | Gary Bailey | GK | Manchester United | – |
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