“I’m an England and Tottenham Icon

Gary Lineker is rarely one to blow his own trumpet. In fact, the Match of the Day host’s transition into the world of presenting often obliges him to downplay his own achievements and brilliance as a footballer, to help elevate pundits who often enjoyed far more modest careers than himself.

You might be forgiven then, especially if you were born after Lineker’s final kick of a football as a professional in 1994, for not quite realising just how incredible a player the former Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham star was during his peak.

Lineker remains one of England’s greatest ever strikers and his defining moment came during the 1986 World Cup, when he won the Golden Boot despite England bowing out in the quarter-finals courtesy of two of the most famous goals in football history – both scored by Diego Maradona.

Lineker’s efforts were recognised by finishing second in that year’s Ballon d’Or, but Lineker believes he should’ve come first and been awarded football’s greatest individual accolade. He told French outlet L’Equipe in 2023:

Gary Lineker’s 1986 in Detail

Incredible form domestically and internationally

Good old 1986. Back when Madonna, Diana Ross and George Michael were in the charts, the old, old first division was just the First Division, and neither the bosman rule, the backpass rule nor the Premier League had been invented yet. It was a very different time before football exploded into the money-making monster it is today.

It was also the year in which Lineker’s status transformed from one of the best strikers in England to being a name of global recognition. The England forward entered the 1986 World Cup off the back of a phenomenal first season at Everton which had seen him score 40 times across all competitions, including a 30-goal haul in the top flight that had secured him a second consecutive Golden Boot.

Lineker rocked up at the World Cup and set the tournament alight with six goals in just five games. After England failed to score in their opening two group games, Lineker netted a hat-trick against Poland, a brace against Paraguay and scored versus Argentina. That goal, however, would be overshadowed by Maradona scoring arguably the most controversial goal of all time – the infamous Hand of God – and the greatest goal of all time – his solo effort slaloming through a helpless England midfield and defence – in the same game.

Nonetheless, Lineker still benefited individually from his performances at the tournament. Barcelona came calling and Everton accepted a £2.8m offer. At the Nou Camp, he’d go on to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the Copa del Rey, before returning to England with Spurs and winning the FA Cup.

Related

Top 10 goal-scorers in World Cup history

GIVEMESPORT looks at the top 10 World Cup goal-scorers in history, featuring Mbappe, Messi and Ronaldo.

The 1986 Ballon d’Or

Geo-Politics played a role in voting behaviour

1986 was a very different time, but the political circumstances aren’t so different to today’s world. While Western Europe currently finds itself at loggerheads with Russian president Vladimir Putin, back in 1986 the world was divided between the NATO nations and the Soviet Union as the Cold War reached its climax.

That appears to have been a factor in the 1986 Ballon d’Or voting, when countries in Eastern Europe rallied behind Igor Belanov, who scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 quarter-final defeat to Belgium. The striker also enjoyed an impressive domestic season with Dynamo Kyiv; they won the Soviet League and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, with Belanov finishing up as the latter competition’s top scorer.

But with Maradona out of the running because the Ballon d’Or only included players from Europe at that time, Lineker feels he was undeservedly pipped to first place.

Related

15 Greatest Footballers to Have Never Won the Ballon d’Or [Ranked]

Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Thierry Henry & Paolo Maldini all feature as the 15 greatest players to have never won the Ballon d’Or are named.

Lineker Praised Belanov for Role in Ukraine

Former striker has been on the front line

While Lineker feels he deserved the 1986 Ballon d’Or, there appear to be no hard feelings towards Belanov, who finds himself at the heart of world geo-politics once again. Upon Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Belanov joined the Territorial Defence Battalion to help protect his hometown of Odesa.

As of 2024, he was still assisting and praising Ukrainian troops, something which Lineker had previously praised him for.