Goal of the Century

It has been said he would never have scored it, if the self-proclaimed “hand of God” goal had been disallowed. But the truth is Diego Maradona’s second goal against England in the 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico™ seemed to have more of a Godly touch about it. Picking up the ball from inside his own half, the pint-sized Argentine skipped past challenge after challenge. Always appearing to be on the point of tumbling, he was miraculously able to retain his balance before rounding Peter Shilton and slotting the ball home for a goal manufactured in heaven. It is perhaps the most famous goal of all time but only the second most famous of this game.

At just 18-years-old Michael Owen became a world superstar overnight with this spectacular individual effort against Argentina in the second-round of the 1998 FIFA World Cup France™. The teenage striker picked the ball up on the half-way line and proceeded to bear down on goal at astonishing speed. After beating three defenders he had the confidence to brush aside a team mate and finish off the wonder goal with a shot into the top corner of the net.

Despite the black and white pictures, there is no trickery in the images of this goal - the 17-year-old really did have the ball tied to his foot. Pele’s touch inside the penalty area and uncanny ability to know where defenders would move before they did was perfectly displayed with this strike against host nation Sweden in the 1958 FIFA World Cup™. After the match the defender, to whom Pele had lifted the ball over before volleying into the net, said he wanted to go over and congratulate the player for the piece of skill.