Tuesday 3 June 1986
Three more games and we at last got to see two of the Home Nations in action.
At 7pm Northern Ireland were live on ITV but were unable to beat Algeria, with a 1-1 draw. Highlights were shown of the other game where Mexico beat Belgium 2-1.
And then it was a late night on the BBC with an 11pm kick off as England faced Portugal - a quite dull game, with England poor, and losing!!
Monday 2 June 1986
Three games today as we finally got into the action, although limited for TV viewers.
Two games at 7pm but BBC only showed the second half of one and the highlights of the other.
Argentina, led by the enigmatic Diego Maradona (of whom we might hear more!) were many people's favourites for the cup, and made a confident start putting away South Korea. BBC viewers would have just started to watch as the third goal went in. Meanwhile the Soviet Union absolutely demolished Hungary.
For the late 11pm kick off England viewers might have watched the ITV live coverage of two teams in the group, Morocco and Poland - but they would not have seen much in a goalless draw.
Group A:
Argentina 3 South Korea 1 Valdano 6, 46, Ruggeri 18 - Park Chang-Sun 73
Group C:
Soviet Union 6 Hungary 0 Yakovenko 2, Aleinikov 4, Belanov 24 (pen), Yaremchuk 66, 75, Rodionov 80
Group F:
Morocco 0 Poland 0
Group A:
Argentina P1 W1 D0 L0 F3 A1 Pts 2 - +2
Italy P1 W0 D1 L0 F1 A1 Pts 1 - 0
Bulgaria P1 W0 D1 L0 F1 A1 Pts 1 - 0
South Korea P1 W0 D0 L1 F1 A3 Pts 0 - -2
ITV finally got going with the opening match for Brazil - always the favourites - but struggling to beat Spain for the 7pm kick off.
At 11pm that evening, another game for the BBC - the first of many late nights for footy fans - as Canada made their debut in world cup finals going down to France 1-0.
So away we go - and ITV kicked off the World Cup .... by showing a schoolboys international at Wembley between England and Italy!
But that evening BBC showed the opening ceremony followed by live coverage of the opening match kicking off at 7pm - as the defending champions Italy drew a tough game with Bulgaria 1-1.
To get us through the summer, a day by day account of what many consider to be the best of all the World Cups - Mexico 1986 - including some YouTube highlights of 'Game Of The Day'.
The previous World Cup in Mexico 1970 was the first that was shown in colour and is best remembered for the magnificent games featuring Brazil as well as (in England minds) the 3-2 quarter final win by West Germany. Again the pictures were sharp and the quality of the sound wonderfully scratchy - and we were all introduced to the 'Mexican wave'.
Football in England was at a low ebb - it was only a year after the ban on European competitions had begun - but Liverpool had dazzled on their way to a League and Cup double, and, with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all qualifying, hopes were high for an entertaining tournament.
The format was for 24 teams to be placed into six groups. The top two, and the four best placed third placed teams, would advance to the last 16 - which would then be a straight knock out.
Canada, Denmark and Iraq were making their first appearance in a world cup finals
The draw took place on Sunday 15 December 1985 and produced:
Group A: Italy, Argentina, South Korea, Bulgaria
Group B: Mexico, Paraguay, Iraq, Belgium
Group C: France, Soviet Union, Canada, Hungary
Group D: Brazil, Spain, Algeria, Northern Ireland
Group E: West Germany, Uruguay, Denmark, Scotland
Group F: Poland, England, Morocco, Portugal
Here ITV preview the chances of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Austria Vienna (Aut) 4-1 Lillestrom (Nor)
Bohemians (Ire) 0-0 Dynamo Dresden (EGer)
Dynamo Kiev (Sov) 0-0 Malmo (Swe)
Lokomotiv Sofia (Bul) 0-1 Cologne (WGer)
Rangers (Sco) 0-0 PSV Eindhoven (Hol)
Real Madrid (Spa) 3-1 Grasshopper (Swi)
Zbrojovka Brno (Cze) 2-2 Wisla Krakow (Pol)
Second Round Second Leg
1 November 1978
Cologne (WGer) 4-0 Lokomotiv Sofia (Bul) (agg: 5-0)
Dynamo Dresden (EGer) 6-0 Bohemians (Ire) (agg: 6-0)
Grasshopper (Swi) 2-0 Real Madrid (Spa) (agg: 3-3 - Grasshopper on away goals)
Lillestrom (Nor) 0-0 Austria Vienna (Aut) (agg: 1-4)
Malmo (Swe) 2-0 Dynamo Kiev (Sov) (agg: 2-0)
Nottingham Forest (Eng) 5-1 AEK Athens (Gre) (agg: 7-2)
PSV Eindhoven (Hol) 2-3 Rangers (Sco) (agg: 2-3)
Wisla Krakow (Pol) 1-1 Zbrojovka Brno (Cze) (agg: 3-3 - Wisla Krakow on away goals)
Quarter Finals First Leg
6 March 1979 Cologne (WGer) 1-0 Rangers (Sco)
7 March 1979
Austria Vienna (Aut) 3-1 Dynamo Dresden (EGer)
Nottingham Forest (Eng) 4-1 Grasshopper (Swi)
Wisla Krakow (Pol) 2-1 Malmo (Swe)
Quarter Finals Second Leg
21 March 1979
Dynamo Dresden (EGer) 1-0 Austria Vienna (Aut) (agg: 2-3)
Grasshopper (Swi) 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Eng) (agg: 2-5)
Malmo (Swe) 4-1 Wisla Krakow (Pol) (agg: 5-3)
22 March 1979
Rangers (Sco) 1-1 Cologne (WGer) (agg: 1-2)
Semi Finals First Leg
11 April 1979
Austria Vienna (Aut) 0-0 Malmo (Swe)
Nottingham Forest (Eng) 3-3 Cologne (WGer)
Semi Finals Second Leg
25 April 1979
Cologne (WGer) 0-1 Nottingham Forest (Eng) (agg: 3-4)
Malmo (Swe) 1-0 Austria Vienna (Aut) (agg: 1-0)
Final
30 May 1979
Nottingham Forest (Eng) 1-0 Malmo (Swe)
