Holland - Belgium world cup play off for Mexico 1986

Holland - Belgium 2:1 second leg. In first game Belgium win 1:0. The second leg on November 20 would be no less dramatic. On a freezing cold night which saw players on both teams sporting tights and tracksuit bottoms, beautiful football was not the order of the day, the hard pitch making this barely possible. In an atmosphere which could have thawed the playing surface, the occasion was set up for a hero to write his name into the history books, or for a villain to emerge who would be linked to this night forever more. Conversely, Georges Grun was now a national hero, and still is to this day. His goal enabled a talented Belgian side to qualify for the 1986 World Cup, a run which would only end at the feet of an inspired Diego Maradona in the semi-finals. Grun’s header is part of Belgian folklore; the fact that it knocked their local rivals out of the World Cup making it that much sweeter.