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1986 FIFA World Cup - Canada (Pt. I)
"The politics of soccer make me nostalgic for the politics of the Middle East" -Henry Kissinger on the 1986 FIFA World Cup bid process
Colombia had been awarded the 1986 FIFA World Cup in 1974. Plans had begun at that date for a 16-team tournament. Later, the 1982 tournament in Spain was expanded to 24 teams, its success led FIFA to attach new stipulations to the Colombian event.
After a host of heated exchanges with FIFA President Havelange, in early November 1986 the Colombian Football Federation officially declared their inability to host the World Cup under FIFA's new conditions.
Under the existing continental rotation policy, a new host from the Americas was needed for a tournament less than 4 years away. Mexico (who had previously hosted in 1970), the United States (who had last qualified in 1950), and Canada (qualified seven times to date without advancing past the group round or hosting) all submitted bids by the March 1983 deadline.
After only three weeks of review, the FIFA executive committee rejected the bid of the United States as having "deviated from FIFA's criteria"*. The US had more FIFA capacity (40,000) stadiums than the rest of the world combined at the time and so launched a protracted appeal; Henry Kissinger would later issue his famous dictum about the state of the game due to these events.
The multicultural nature of Canadian society likely played into Canada be awarded hosting duties; there were rumours that France had been guaranteed to be placed in a group in Montréal if they voted for the bid (a rumour aided by the fact it eventually occurred), while England and other Commonwealth members were duly enthusiastic.
Canada won on the first ballot.
Canada's bid had confirmed tightly to FIFA regulations, including 12 venues from 11 host cities across Canada. After being awarded the games, the Canadian bid sent a request to FIFA to allow the number of venues to be increased to 14 and cities to 12, to allow more flexibility in scheduling and allow more of the vast and diverse country to experience the games; it was offered that one of the new venues would host the third-place match only so as to minimize any effects on the tournament itself.
It was agreed that the first two rounds would be played evenly in the western and eastern halves of the Canadian 'mainland', with the final rounds played in the East.
In the end, stadiums were selected in Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, London, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Québec were selected to host group-round matches.
Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, London, Quebec, Toronto, and Montréal would host the round of 16.
Hamilton, Ottawa, Toronto and Montréal would host the quarter-finals; Toronto and Montréal would host the semis, finals, and third place match.
The 24 qualified teams (including Canada as hosts and Italy as holders) were then divided into pots, grouped (in theory) geographically with the top 6 teams (including the hosts) in their own pot.
The Draw:
Pool A
Italy (holders)
Argentina
Bulgaria
South Korea (first appearance since 1954)
Pool B
Canada (hosts)
Paraguay
Belgium
Iraq
Pool C
France (4th place, 1982)
Soviet Union
Hungary
Mexico
Pool D
Brazil
Spain
Northern Ireland
Algeria
Pool E
Denmark
Germany
Scotland
Uruguay
Pool F
England
Poland
Portugal
Morocco
The games began on May 31st, 1986, with few surprises in the early matches, aside from perhaps the hosts' strong performance.
The biggest upsets of the group round all came in the final set of games, as Morocco defeated Portugal 3-1 to secure round of 16 position, Scotland beat Uruguay 1-0 to do the same, and Denmark defeated Germany 2-0 to top their group.
Group round results:
Bulgaria 1-1 Italy
Argentina 3-1 South Korea
Italy 1-1 Argentina
South Korea 1-1 Bulgaria
South Korea 2-3 Italy
Argentina 2-0 Bulgaria