It Wasn’t A Match, It Was ‘The Match’: Cannes Premieres Thrilling Film On World Cup’s Greatest Contest, England Vs. Argentina 1986
EXCLUSIVE: The World Cup kicks off in Mexico City in less than a month, promising enough moments of athletic brilliance, excitement and tension to grip a global audience. But for sheer drama and importance, it will be hard if not impossible for any single World Cup match to equal one played 40 years ago. In 1986, England and Argentina squared off in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in what has gone down as the most iconic contest in tournament history.
That riveting encounter, which featured two of the most memorable goals ever scored in a World Cup, is reexamined in The Match , premiering later today at the Cannes Film Festival. More from Deadline 'The Eddy' Director Laïla Marrakchi, Nigerian Actress-Producer Genevieve Nnaji & Indian Actress-Singer Tara Sutaria Among Honorees For Red Sea Film Foundation's Women In Cinema Gala Barry Keoghan Talks Ringo Starr And Finding His Wild Side In 'Butterfly Jam' And 'Batman Part II': "There's An Animal Theme With Cannes And Me" Philippines' CreaZion Studios Boards Zig Dulay's 'Maria Maria' & Ruel Santos Bayani's Spain-set '142' The documentary is directed by Argentinian filmmakers Juan Cabral and Santiago Franco. We have your first look at it in the exclusive trailer above.
The 1986 World Cup quarterfinal match between England and Argentina. Courtesy of THE MATCH by JC & SF That quarterfinal of 1986 unfolded with two of football’s biggest stars on the pitch – Gary Lineker for England and Diego Maradona for Argentina. But the significance of the match wasn’t so much about the players as the historical context – only a few years before, Britain had gone to war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands (known as Las Malvinas to Argentinians).
“It’s only football. Period,” Maradona insisted in pre-game interviews. But politics hung over Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, where the match was played, like a persistent layer of smog.
The directors, though Argentinian, take a balanced approach to the story, interviewing surviving members of both teams, including Lineker (Maradona died in 2020). “It was very important to shed light in a very neutral way, acknowledging that we are Argentinians,” Cabral tells Deadline. “There’s always a small kind of bias because of just knowing what you know.
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