Diego Maradona was widely regarded as the best footballer in the world in the 1980s and his crowning achievement was his World Cup win with Argentina in 1986. He started his career at Argentinos Juniors and played his first game for Argentina in 1977, although he missed out on becoming part of the Argentina squad for the 1978 World Cup. In 1982, he moved to the Spanish club Barcelona, where he proved a prolific goalscorer. He also played for Argentina in the 1982 World Cup, although the team went out of the competition in the second phase after defeats by Italy and Brazil. Maradona was also sent off against Brazil.

Maradona left Barcelona for the Italian club Napoli in 1984. In 1986, Maradona went into the 1986 World Cup touted as the greatest player in the world and he didn't disappoint. He gave the most outstanding performances of any player, finishing with five goals (just one behind tournament top scorer Gary Lineker) as Argentina went all the way to the final, where they beat West Germany 3-2. Maradona won Serie A with Napoli in 1987 and 1990 as well as the UEFA Cup in 1989. He was also the Serie A top goalscorer in 1987-88.

Although Argentina progressed to the final of the 1990 World Cup, he didn't sparkle as he had done four years earlier and finished the tournament without scoring a goal. Maradona appeared to return to form at the 1994 World Cup by scoring a spectacular goal against Greece, but finished it in ignominy as he was ejected from the tournament after failing a drug test.