Lionel Messi and Argentina have reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup after a miraculous comeback against Egypt on Monday. Trailing 2-0 in the 67th minute, the reigning world champions looked set for a shock round of 16 exit.
However, Messi had other plans. He hit a pinpoint cross for Christian Romero to head in a goal in the 79th minute. After this, the Barcelona legend leveled the game by scoring a goal in the 83rd minute. Enzo Fernandez scored to put Argentina 3–2 ahead three minutes into stoppage time, ultimately booking their quarterfinal ticket against Switzerland.
While Monday’s historic win was an unforgettable victory for Argentina, that was not the case nearly 36 years ago. On July 8, 1990, a proud nation was left heartbroken by one of the most controversial decisions in World Cup history.
Similar to this year’s Messi-led team, Argentina also entered the 1990 World Cup in Italy as defending champions. They won their second World Cup title four years ago at Mexico 86.
Football legend Diego Maradona was the talisman of the 1990 team. He led the team to the final, where they faced West Germany. Unfortunately for Argentina, they suffered a 1–0 defeat in what Britannica has dubbed one of the “biggest FIFA World Cup controversies” in history.
“A controversial penalty: Argentina, seeking to defend their title, face West Germany in a repeat of the 1986 World Cup final. The match, which was scoreless until the 85th minute, was enlivened by the arrival of the referee fined For West Germany after a challenge on Rudi Völler in the penalty box,” Britannica’s Andrew Pereira wrote. “Andreas Brehme scored from the spot and West Germany won their third World Cup. However, the referee’s decision was controversial and has been debated ever since.”
After this crushing defeat, Maradona started crying bitterly. He made his feelings about the penalty decision very clear.
“There is mafia in the football world too,” maradona screamed. “The penalty did not exist. It was just given to make the Germans win.”
Messi and Co. will aim to achieve what Maradona and the 1990s team failed to do: win back-to-back World Cup titles.
Argentina and Switzerland will face off on Saturday at 9:00 PM ET from the Kansas City Stadium.
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