World Cup revisited: Mexico 1986, Portugal 1-0 England, and all that chaos | OneFootball

In the second in his “World Cup revisited” series, Portuguese football historian Miguel Lourenço Pereira focuses on one of the most remarkable campaigns – mainly for bad reasons – in the entire history of the Seleção: Mexico ’86.

There was nothing simple regarding the 1986 World Cup for Portuguese football. Everything, from qualifying to the last match played in Mexico was the stuff of urban legend. Worthy of hours of therapy. A nation that wasn’t expected to qualify did. A side that was ranked among the underdogs made the impossible look easy and the easy look impossible. And, in between, prostitutes, butchers, postmen, balls that went flying into the highways and shirts turned inside out became as important as players, managers or style of play.

It was a mess that had severe consequences that would last more than a decade, and which also showed the world how far behind Portuguese society still was, despite living in its twelfth year of democracy.

Let me dream. Those were the words. José Torres travelled to West Germany knowing he needed a miracle for Portugal to qualify for the finals. After the brilliant performance at Euro 1984, particularly in the semi-finals, everyone took it  for granted that the Portuguese would be sailing to Mexico in two years. The first months of the qualifying campaign told another story. Portugal suffered against the Swedes and Czechs, more used to playing at the World Cup – the two nations had played in a final before – and on the very last day needed to do the impossible: be the first side to beat West Germany at home in a World Cup qualifier.

The miracle of Stuttgart

The home side had already booked their place at the tournament where they would eventually reach the final, but they were still a formidable foe, while Portugal were miles away from the form displayed in France. There was no Chalana, a victim of injuries ever since he moved to Bordeaux. Jordão was quarrelling with his manager at Sporting, so he too was out, and it was still extremely hard to get players from Benfica and Porto to sit at the same table, let alone play in harmony. However, against all the odds, a blistering Carlos Manuel shot was enough to secure an unlikely win in Stuttgart, and Portugal managed, twenty years later, to qualify for a World Cup.

Memories from the Eusébio days still lingered heavily, and this new talented generation, who often excelled for their club sides, with Benfica playing in three European finals during the decade and Porto in two, were now given the chance to also make a name for themselves in the red and green colours of the national side. The Infantes, as they were promptly called, travelled to Mexico full of hope only to find out that sometimes your biggest dreams can become your worst nightmares.

Testing group

Portugal had been drawn against England, Poland and Morocco. It was a tough group. The Poles had finished third in the previous World Cup and still had in their ranks the great goalscorer Zbigniew Boniek, while the English were also among the favourites. Morocco were a sort of mystery to many, but after the great impression left by Algeria and Cameroon four years previously, everyone decided to take them seriously.

The biggest obstacles were not the opponents, though, but the venues. Two matches would be played at Monterrey and one in Guadalajara, two places with an altitude that would be tough to adapt to, particularly for those coming from a predominantly flat nation like Portugal. With Jordão, Chalana and also Manuel Fernandes – the league’s top scorer – out, the biggest novelty was the inclusion of a young Paulo Futre in a squad of players well used to the international stage.

“False positive” and gruelling journey

However, hours before the plane took off, António Veloso was informed his name had appeared on a positive drug test. Instead of waiting for a rerun test, which cleared the player, Torres and the Portuguese Federation panicked and excluded him from the squad, calling Bandeirinha, a Porto loanee at Académica, something that greatly disturbed the already delicate balance between Benfica and Porto players. While most nations opted for booking direct charters, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) decided otherwise, and the players had to pick up three different flights, from Lisbon to Frankfurt, from there to Dallas and finally to Mexico City, before catching a bus that would take hours to arrive at their destination, Saltillo.

Bobby Robson’s England were also stationed there, but at a better hotel facility and with a scheduled set of friendlies. Portugal arrived and were forced to stay at a highway hostel, with a neighbouring training pitch that was on a slope, where sometimes a meaty kick of the ball meant it would end up in the middle of the road. It was also a place known in the area for late-night shenanigans and prostitution, and players and staff were welcomed by the tempting sight of several local ladies of the night. Long parties well into the night ensued, some with visiting English players who escaped their hotel to join in, and where the press, who didn’t stay at the hotel, would just walk through the lobby listening to everything that was said in the quarters above as there was almost no privacy at all from room to room.

Training with amateurs

The FPF also found out when they arrived that all the local sides and neighbouring visiting national sides already had a full agenda, and so the squad were forced to play against amateurs who lived nearby. These were sides often comprised of the local postmen or butchers with no experience whatsoever. Worst still, while Portugal’s players were residing in such appalling conditions, sharing their facilities with a legion of cockroaches, the FPF president Silva Resende was comfortably shacked up in a five-star hotel in Mexico City partying with the local elite and other football men based in the capital. Every time he got a call from his main man in Saltillo he pretended he wasn’t available and kept on enjoying himself as much as he could.

Sponsorship row, strike and vehement backlash

The tipping point occurred when the players were told they had to wear shirts with sponsors for photoshoots, but that they wouldn’t be paid an extra cent beyond the already agreed bonuses for performing. Manuel Bento, the captain of the squad, surprisingly arranged a consensus given the animosity between the Porto and Benfica players. They all agreed to go on a strike if they weren’t awarded a part of the fee that the FPF would be getting. The news broke in Portugal and was even discussed in Parliament, with the most high-profile politicians openly criticising the players for greed. “Playing for the national side should be enough” was the feeling repeated by different political entities and most of the population at a time when the country was experiencing a deep economic crisis.

News of the political and public backslash arrived at Saltillo, making some players doubt if they were in the right and on 27 May, just six days before the opening match, the strike was called off, but some players still decided to train with their shirts inside out so that no sponsorship would be visible during the press photoshoot sessions. There was no-one in command, and Torres, caught in the middle and without any authority to impose himself, closed himself in his room to devise the best plan to beat the English, hoping a win would be enough to change the mood of the squad.

Many were demanding that Futre be included in the starting eleven alongside Fernando Gomes, with whom he had struck up a deadly partnership, but when the two sides walked out onto the pitch on 3 June at the Tecnologico Stadium in Monterrey, the promising young winger was on the substitutes bench. Gomes played up front with Carlos Manuel sitting behind him in front of a line of four that included António Sousa, Jaime Pacheco, António André and Diamantino. Álvaro, Inácio, Oliveira and Frederico were the back four, and goalkeeper Manuel Bento captained the side.

Equal Benfica/Porto player selection policy

Frederico was the only player who didn’t belong to Benfica or Porto, as he plied his trade for Boavista. Both the Dragons and the Eagles had five players each in the starting eleven, and, much like in 1984, it was believed that Torres would insist on keeping the balance between both clubs equal despite having better options at hand.

Robson, who was guiding the Three Lions into his first tournament, opted for veteran goalkeeper Peter Shilton, Gary Stevens, the two Terry’s, Fenwick and Butcher, and Kenny Sansom in defence, while Glenn Hoddle, Bryan Robson, Chris Waddle and Ray Wilkins formed the midfield, with Mark Hateley and Gary Lineker up front. With a crowd of less than 25,000, the stands were mostly empty. The match was a dull affair between two teams more afraid of starting off on the wrong foot than actually going for the win.

Snore-fest first half

Portugal played with fear from the first minute, holding onto the ball in defensive areas while searching for openings behind the English line. Carlos Manuel and Diamantino’s long throws would usually find Gomes man-marked, and no danger came from the Infantes during the first half. England were also poor with the ball, looking for set pieces to break the deadlock. A dangerous Hateley header was the only real goal opportunity in the first half, but Bento saved it with ease. Without space in the Portuguese defence, the attacking creativity of Robson’s men wasn’t enough to pose danger, but with the ball at their feet, neither Sousa, Manuel or Diamantino were able to do more than try their luck with long shots that often ended up miles away from Shilton’s goal.

The second half wasn’t much different, although England started stronger, searching for precise crosses into the box that didn’t reach the intended target, particularly Lineker. When they did, the forward who would go on to win the tournament’s golden boot was ineffective, albeit merit should be given to the Portuguese defenders, particularly Oliveira, who midway into the second half slid to clear a ball that had goal written all over it. As the game went on, England started to believe that they could get more than a point out of the game as Portugal gradually retreated, leaving Gomes completely isolated at the opposite end of the pitch.

Diamantino and Carlos Manuel combine for the winner

Then, totally against the run of play, and with José António poised to enter so that Portugal could switch to a three-defender back line to hold on for a draw, came the only goal of the afternoon. Sousa threaded a pass along the touchline to Diamantino, who beat Sansom and dribbled into the box before laying a precise pass that Carlos Manuel, coming from the left, only had to tap in. The hero of Stuttgart was now also the hero of Monterrey, and celebrations ran riot.

Futre, who had just subbed Gomes much to his personal despair, became the sole attacking player as Portugal decided to sit deep for the remaining fifteen minutes. António was subbed in with ten to go, replacing Diamantino, with Portugal playing in a 5-4-1 to handle England’s final assault. Manuel Bento showed the same skills he had shown two years earlier at Euro ’84 to guarantee his side went back with a win that nobody had predicted before kick-off.

Bento breaks his leg

Despite the win, Portugal had played poorly, and the flair of the European Championship in France was nowhere to be seen. Torres was a much more fearful manager than Cabrita had been. And the Seleção did not have much time to celebrate the win. The following day Bento broke his leg in training and was ruled out of the tournament. A career-ending injury for the veteran goalkeeper forced his understudy, Vitor Damas, to be called up for the two remaining games. Damas was also at the end of his career, had played few minutes for his club side and had been a dubious choice at best from the national manager. His poor performances cost Portugal dearly.

Portugal crash out

Against the Poles, a goal by Smolarek was enough to grant the Eastern Europeans a deserved win; but the good news was England had drawn against Morocco, meaning Portugal only needed to do the same against the African side to progress. In Guadalajara, following a public outcry, Futre and Gomes finally played alongside each other, but the young forward was displaced to the left wing, where he caused less damage. Morocco’s Brazilian manager José Faria even proposed a non-aggression pact before the match to his Portuguese counterpart, as the draw was possibly a good result for both, but after reading the arrogant Portuguese press he thought again and unleashed a vertiginous attacking force that completely broke the Seleção, physically and mentally.

Without Bento to hold the side firm, Morocco scored two early goals and then a third in the second half, sealing Portugal’s fate. A late Diamantino goal meant nothing as they ended up the group stage dead last in the section, with only two points and a goal difference of minus two. It was the worst ever result in the history of the national side at a big tournament.

Players vilified

After the Saltillo strike and the subsequent fallout, when the players landed back in Lisbon they were received with an unprecedented level of hostility by supporters and authorities alike. Many were suspended for life from playing for the national side for their behaviour, while others voluntarily ended their international careers there and then.

As a consequence, Portugal would field what was technically a B side or even C side for the 1988 Euro qualifying, failing to progress as expected. The same happened two years later when they tried to book a ticket for the 1990 World Cup. Benfica had played two European Cup finals in the previous two seasons, and Porto had won the trophy in 1987. That generation deserved another shot at the big stage, but a Portuguese Football Federation that still behaved as they did during the Salazar dictatorship years – with many officials belonging to the regime’s ranks – cut their hopes short.

Only the unexpected Youth World Cup wins for the national under-20 side, coached by Carlos Queiroz, brought back a sense of hope in the future, and when Portugal failed to qualify for Euro 1992, Queiroz was appointed manager of the senior team, bringing with him the Golden Generation that would go on to qualify Portugal for a World Cup a decade later.