Diego Maradona was an Argentine professional footballer who represented the Argentina national football team as an attacking midfielder and playmaker from 1977 to 1994. He scored 34 goals in 91 appearances, making him Argentina's 5th-highest goalscorer.

Maradona earned his first cap when he was 16 years old in 1977, in a friendly 5–1 win against Hungary. He scored his first goal in 1979 in a friendly against Scotland. He has also represented La Albiceleste at four FIFA World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994) and three Copa Américas (1979, 1987, 1989). He captained Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup Final, scoring both goals in their quarter-final match against England en route to the final. The first was scored with a handball that was missed by the match officials and went unpenalised, Maradona attributed the goal to "The hand of God". His second goal was dubbed the Goal of the century. He won the Golden Ball award of that tournament for being the best player.

Maradona scored his last international goal in Argentina's first 1994 World Cup match against Greece. He earned his last cap in their second match of the group stage against Nigeria, and never played for them again after failing a drug test.

International goals

Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Maradona goal. Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result CompetitionRef 1. 2 June 1979 Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland 3–0 3–1 Friendly 2. 25 June 1979 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina FIFA World XI 1–0 1–2Friendly 3. 8 August 1979 Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires, Argentina 3–0 3–0 1979 Copa América 4. 30 April 1980 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina League of Ireland XI 1–0 1–0 Friendly 5. 21 May 1980 Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria 3–0 5–1 Friendly 6. 4–1 7. 5–1 8. 12 October 1980 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2–1 2–1Friendly 9. 4 December 1980 Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata, Argentina 1–0 1–1Friendly 10. 16 December 1980 Estadio Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina 4–0 5–0Friendly 11. 4 January 1981 Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay 1–0 1–1 1980 Mundialito 12. 18 June 1982 Estadio José Rico Pérez, Alicante, Spain 2–0 4–1 1982 FIFA World Cup 13. 3–0 14. 9 May 1985 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 1–1 Friendly 15. 14 May 1985 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 2–0Friendly 16. 26 May 1985 Estadio Polideportivo de Pueblo Nuevo, San Cristóbal, Venezuela 1–0 3–2 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification 17. 3–1 18. 9 June 1985 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 3–0 3–01986 FIFA World Cup qualification 19. 14 November 1985 Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States 1–1 1–1 Friendly 20. 4 May 1986 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel 1–0 7–2Friendly 21. 6–2 22. 5 June 1986 Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico 1–1 1–1 1986 FIFA World Cup 23. 22 June 1986 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico 1–0 2–11986 FIFA World Cup 24. 2–0 25. 25 June 1986 Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico 1–0 2–01986 FIFA World Cup 26. 2–0 27. 10 June 1987 Letzigrund, Zürich, Switzerland 1–2 1–3 Friendly 28. 27 June 1987 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1–0 1–1 1987 Copa América 29. 2 July 1987 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2–0 3–01987 Copa América 30. 3–0 31. 31 March 1988 Olympiastadion, West Berlin, West Germany 2–3 2–4 Four Nations Tournament 32. 22 May 1990 Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel 1–0 2–1 Friendly 33. 20 April 1994 Estadio El Gigante del Norte, Salta, Argentina 2–1 3–1Friendly 34. 21 June 1994 Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, United States 3–0 4–0 1994 FIFA World Cup Notes

Statistics

+ Appearances and goals by year and competitionYearCompetitiveFriendlyTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1977–30301978–101019792Appearances in the 1979 Copa América162831980–10710719812Appearances in the 1980 Mundialito1–2119825Appearances in the 1982 World Cup2501021983–––1984–––19856Appearances in the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification34310619867Appearances in the 1986 World Cup53210719874Appearances in the 1987 Copa América3216419882Appearances in the Four Nations Tournament1103119896Appearances in the 1989 Copa América0107019907Appearances in the 1990 World Cup0311011991–––1992–––19933One appearance in the 1993 Artemio Franchi Cup, two appearances in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification0104019942Appearances in the 1994 World Cup15172Total461745179134

+ Goals by competitionCompetition Caps Goals Friendlies4517 Copa América124 FIFA World Cup qualification83 FIFA World Cup tournaments218 Other tournaments52Total9134

References