2006
In the quarter-finals Germany and Argentina ended 1–1 after extra time; the hosts edging out the Argentinians 4–2 on penalties to go through to the semifinals.
1990
Without doubt the worst game of football I’ve ever seen. The final between West Germany and Argentina was the most cynical and lowest quality of all World Cup Finals. In the 65th minute, Argentina’s Pedro Monzon was sent off for a foul on Jürgen Klinsmann, the first player ever to be sent off in a World Cup Final. Argentina, weakened by suspension and injury, offered little attacking threat throughout a contest dominated by the West Germans, who struggled to create many clear goalscoring opportunities. The only goal of the match came in the 85th minute when the Mexican referee awarded a dodgy penalty to West Germany, after an apparent ‘foul’ on Rudi Völler by Roberto Sensini. Andreas Brehme converted the spot kick to settle the contest. In the closing moments, Argentina were reduced to nine men after Gustavo Dezotti received the second red card of the game when he hauled Jürgen Kohler to the ground during a stoppage in play. The 1–0 scoreline provided another first: Argentina were the first team to fail to score in a World Cup Final.
1986
Irishman Jose Luis Brown opened the scoring for Argentina’s gang of street thugs in the 23rd minute and it stayed at 1–0 until half-time. After the break, Jorge Valdano doubled Argentina’s lead. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge pulled a goal back in the 74th minute for West Germany and they equalised in the 80th minute; future Germany manager Rudi Völler scoring to seemingly salvage the game. However just 3 minutes later Jorge Burruchaga allowed Argentina to regain the lead at 3–2, this was how it remained and Argentina were able to celebrate their second world-cup victory in three tournaments (after having won the 1978 World Cup).
