Estadio Azteca Cup Final, Brazil defeated Italy 4–1, and in the 1986 World Cup Final, Argentina defeated West Germany 3–2. It also hosted the 1986 quarter-final match between Argentina and England in which Diego Maradona scored both the "Hand of God goal" and the "Goal of the Century". The stadium also hosted the "Game of the Century", when Italy defeated West Germany 4–3 in extra time in one of the 1970 semifinal matches. The stadium was also the principal venue for the football tournament of the 1968 Summer Olympics. The Estadio Azteca was designed by architects Pedro Ramírez Vázquez and Rafael Mijares
Diego Maradona been viewed as an embodiment of the Buenos Aires shanty town Maradona was brought up in and its concept of "viveza criolla" — "native cunning". While critical of the illegitimate first goal, England striker Gary Lineker conceded, “When Diego scored that second goal against us, I felt like applauding. I'd never felt like that before, but it's true... and not just because it was such an important game. It was impossible to score such a beautiful goal. He's the greatest player of all time, by a long way. A genuine phenomenon." Maradona used his hand in the 1990 World Cup,