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 had scored 34 goals in 91 appearances,[1] making him Argentina's 5th-highest goalscorer. He earned his first cap when he was 16 years old in 1977, in a friendly 5–1 win against Hungary.[2] He wouldn't score his first goal though, until 1979 in a friendly against Scotland.[3] He has also represented La Albiceleste at 4 FIFA World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994) and 3 Copa Américas (1979, 1987, 1989). Most famously in his international career, he captained Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup Final, scoring 2 famous goals in their quarter-final match against England en route to the final better known as The Hand of God and The Goal of the Century. He also won the Golden Ball award of that tournament for being the best player.[4] He would score his last international goal in their first 1994 World Cup match which was against Greece,[5] where he infamously celebrated by having a scary look on his face as he screamed at a camera on the sidelines. He would ultimately, earn his last cap in their second match of the group stage against Nigeria,[6] and never play for them again after failing a drug test.[7]
List of international goals scored by Diego Maradona
Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Maradona goal.
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2 June 1979 | 3–0 | 3–1 | Friendly | ||||
| 2. | 25 June 1979 | FIFA World XI[8] | 1–0 | 1–2 | Friendly | |||
| 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[9] | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly | [10] | |
| 5. | 21 May 1980 | 3–0 | 5–1 | Friendly | ||||
| 6. | 4–1 | |||||||
| 7. | 5–1 | |||||||
| 8. | 12 October 1980 | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina | 2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly | |||
| 9. | 4 December 1980 | Estadio José María Minella, Mar del Plata, Argentina | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly | |||
| 10. | 16 December 1980 | Estadio Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina | 4–0 | 5–0 | Friendly | |||
| 11. | 4 January 1981 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1980 Mundialito | ||||
| 12. | 18 June 1982 | 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 | 2–0 | Friendly | |||
| 16. | 26 May 1985 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification | ||||
| 17. | 3–1 | |||||||
| 18. | 9 June 1985 | Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification | |||
| 19. | 14 November 1985 | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly | ||||
| 20. | 4 May 1986 | 1–0 | 7–2 | Friendly | ||||
| 21. | 6–2 | |||||||
| 22. | 5 June 1986 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1986 FIFA World Cup | ||||
| 23. | 22 June 1986 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1986 FIFA World Cup | |||
| 24. | 2–0 | |||||||
| 25. | 25 June 1986 | Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1986 FIFA World Cup | |||
| 26. | 2–0 | |||||||
| 27. | 10 June 1987 | 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 | 3–0 | 1987 Copa América | |||
| 30. | 3–0 | |||||||
| 31. | 31 March 1988 | 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 | 3–1 | Friendly | |||
| 34. | 21 June 1994 | Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, United States | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup |
| Year | Competitive | Friendly | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| 1977 | – | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1978 | – | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1979 | 2[11] | 1 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 3 | |
| 1980 | – | 10 | 7 | 10 | 7 | ||
| 1981 | 2[12] | 1 | – | 2 | 1 | ||
| 1982 | 5[13] | 2 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 2 | |
| 1983 | – | – | – | ||||
| 1984 | – | – | – | ||||
| 1985 | 6[14] | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 6 | |
| 1986 | 7[15] | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 7 | |
| 1987 | 4[16] | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | |
| 1988 | 2[17] | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1989 | 6[18] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 7[19] | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 1 | |
| 1991 | – | – | – | ||||
| 1992 | – | – | – | ||||
| 1993 | 3[20] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 2[21] | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 2 | |
| Total | 46 | 17 | 45 | 17 | 91 | 34 | |
| Competition | Caps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friendlies | 45 | 17 | |
| Copa América | 12 | 4 | |
| FIFA World Cup qualification | 8 | 3 | |
| FIFA World Cup tournaments | 21 | 8 | |
| Other tournaments | 5 | 2 | |
| Total | 91 | 34 |