22/04/2025
Soccer
Diego Maradona
Argentine soccer player
Also known as: Diego Armando Maradona
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Last Updated: Apr 21, 2025 • Article History
Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona Diego Maradona, 1986.
News • Sports world mourns soccer-loving Pope Francis with games in Italy and Argentina postponed • Apr. 21, 2025, 1:55 PM ET (AP)
Diego Maradona (born October 30, 1960, Lanus, Buenos Aires, Argentina—died November 25, 2020, Tigre, Buenos Aires) was an Argentine football (soccer) player who is generally regarded as the top footballer of the 1980s and one of the greatest of all time. Renowned for his ability to control the ball and create scoring opportunities for himself and others, he led club teams to championships in Argentina, Italy, and Spain, and he starred on the Argentine national team that won the 1986 World Cup.
Maradona displayed football talent early, and at age eight he joined Las Cebollitas (“The Little Onions”), a boys’ team that went on to win 136 consecutive games and a national championship. He signed with Argentinos Juniors at age 14 and made his first-division debut in 1976, 10 days before his 16th birthday. Only four months later he made his debut with the national team, becoming the youngest Argentine ever to do so. Although he was excluded from the 1978 World Cup-winning squad because it was felt that he was still too young, the next year he led the national under-20 team to a Junior World Cup championship.
Quick Facts
In full: Diego Armando Maradona
Born: October 30, 1960, Lanus, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died: November 25, 2020, Tigre, Buenos Aires (aged 60)
Diego Maradona
Diego MaradonaDiego Maradona (right) of Argentina and a South Korean defender in a 1986 World Cup football (soccer) game.
Maradona moved to Boca Juniors in 1981