GARY LINEKER 1986

England suffered a frustrating quarter-final exit at the 1986 World Cup thanks to the genius, and cunning, of Diego Maradona. But it was still a tournament to savour for Gary Lineker.

Long before he was flogging bags of crisps, Gary was filling onion bags, scoring six goals to win the Golden Boot in Mexico.

His hat-trick in a 3-0 group-stage win over Poland ensured the Three Lions’ progression to the knockout phase of the competition, finishing second behind Morocco.

Paraguay were the opposition in the last 16, and Los Guaranies had no answer to Lineker’s goalscoring savvy as he netted twice – either side of a Peter Beardsley strike – to send Bobby Robson’ side through to the quarter-finals.

The Argentines stood in the way of a semi-final berth, but Lineker’s second-half goal – his sixth of the event – could not deny Maradona one of his finest hours. After that handball, Diego’s iconic individual strike sealed a 2-1 win which sent England and Lineker packing.