Peter Shilton is finally over it. Or at least, he’s trying to be. After nearly four decades of nursing a bitter, justified grudge over the most famous heist in football history, England’s legendary goalkeeper is ready to bury the hatchet. Even if the man who swung it is no longer here to see it.
It happened in 1986. The Azteca Stadium. A sweltering cauldron packed with 115,000 screaming souls. Diego Maradona, Argentina’s flawed genius, rose above Shilton and punched the ball into the net. The “Hand of God,” he called it. It was blatant cheating, followed minutes later by a touch of pure, unadulterated magic that left the entire English defense chasing shadows. Argentina won 2-1. Shilton was left with a lifetime of resentment.
But time, apparently, softens even the hardest edges. Speaking ahead of England’s return to that very same Azteca turf for a 2026 World Cup clash, Shilton admitted a recent trip to Argentina changed his perspective. The people in Buenos Aires treated him like royalty, not an enemy. It got him thinking. Maradona is gone, the years have rolled by, and holding onto the anger just feels exhausting now. He’s putting the beef to bed.
Still, don’t expect him to rewrite history. Shilton knows what he saw. He was there. He remembers the jump, the desperation, and the fist that beat his outstretched hands. He insists he had the ball covered, which is exactly why Maradona resorted to his knuckles. If the Argentine could have headed it, he would have. The referee missed it, the linesman blinked, and Shilton has spent forty years defending his own reputation against armchair critics who weren’t on the pitch. He knows the truth. That’s enough for him now.
As for the current England squad heading into the altitude of Mexico City, Shilton is worried. In 1986, Bobby Robson’s men spent a grueling month training in Colorado just to get their lungs used to the thin air. Today’s players are flying straight in. No prep. No time to adjust. It’s a massive gamble, and the heat will be brutal. If they survive the Azteca and beat the hosts, Shilton thinks we can actually start dreaming. But it’s a massive ‘if’.
