Group E. West Germany, Uruguay, Denmark, and Scotland, playing in Queretaro and Nezahualcoyotl. The group of death. Every World Cup has such group and Group E was the 1986 sample. Anything could happen in such group, but some predictions were possible nevertheless.
Denmark
Head coach: Sepp Piontek
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Troels Rasmussen
4 July 1961 (aged 24)
15
AGF
2
DF
John Sivebæk
25 October 1961 (aged 24)
36
Manchester United
3
DF
Søren Busk
10 April 1953 (aged 33)
46
MVV
4
DF
Morten Olsen (Captain)
14 August 1949 (aged 36)
79
Anderlecht
5
DF
Ivan Nielsen
9 October 1956 (aged 29)
31
Feyenoord
6
MF
Søren Lerby
1 February 1958 (aged 28)
51
Bayern Munich
7
MF
Jan Mølby
4 July 1963 (aged 22)
20
Liverpool
8
FW
Jesper Olsen
20 March 1961 (aged 25)
26
Manchester United
9
MF
Klaus Berggreen
3 February 1958 (aged 28)
32
Pisa
10
FW
Preben Elkjær Larsen
11 September 1957 (aged 28)
56
Hellas Verona
11
MF
Michael Laudrup
15 June 1964 (aged 21)
30
Juventus
12
MF
Jens Jørn Bertelsen
15 February 1952 (aged 34)
58
Aarau
13
MF
Per Frimann
4 June 1962 (aged 23)
10
Anderlecht
14
FW
Allan Simonsen
15 December 1952 (aged 33)
53
Vejle
15
MF
Frank Arnesen
30 September 1956 (aged 29)
45
PSV
16
GK
Ole Qvist
25 February 1950 (aged 36)
38
KB
17
DF
Kent Nielsen
28 December 1961 (aged 24)
4
Brønshøj
18
FW
Flemming Christensen
10 April 1958 (aged 28)
10
Lyngby
19
FW
John Eriksen
20 November 1957 (aged 28)
5
Feyenoord
20
MF
Jan Bartram
6 March 1962 (aged 24)
3
AGF
21
DF
Henrik Andersen
7 May 1965 (aged 21)
6
Anderlecht
22
GK
Lars Høgh
14 January 1959 (aged 27)
3
Odense
Denmark was no longer a miracle – it was the team praised for coming the closest to total football in the first half of the 1980s, and by now the inconsistencies of the earlier developmental stages were thought over: the squad was experienced, constant, full of stars playing for the leading European clubs and not just playing, but having key roles. The Danes played dazzling football and thanks to Troels Rasmussen had no weak post anymore – goalkeeping has been big problem, but no more. Sepp Piontek had no problems with his players, there was no great pressure on the team to succeed, and one can always depend on Morten Olsen and Simonsen to spur and lead by example their younger teammates. So far, transition was going smoothly, for new talent was coming up – Peter Schmeichel for instance, was considered and left out. Denmark was very likely to win the group of death, they were just ripe for success.
West Germany
Head coach: Franz Beckenbauer
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Harald Schumacher
6 March 1954 (aged 32)
67
1. FC Köln
2
DF
Hans-Peter Briegel
11 October 1955 (aged 30)
66
Hellas Verona
3
DF
Andreas Brehme
9 November 1960 (aged 25)
23
1. FC Kaiserslautern
4
DF
Karlheinz Förster
25 July 1958 (aged 27)
74
VfB Stuttgart
5
DF
Matthias Herget
14 November 1955 (aged 30)
21
Bayer Uerdingen
6
DF
Norbert Eder
7 November 1955 (aged 30)
2
Bayern Munich
7
FW
Pierre Littbarski
16 April 1960 (aged 26)
40
1. FC Köln
8
MF
Lothar Matthäus
21 March 1961 (aged 25)
41
Bayern Munich
9
FW
Rudi Völler
13 April 1960 (aged 26)
31
Werder Bremen
10
MF
Felix Magath
26 July 1953 (aged 32)
37
Hamburger SV
11
FW
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Captain)
25 September 1955 (aged 30)
88
Internazionale
12
GK
Uli Stein
23 October 1954 (aged 31)
6
Hamburger SV
13
MF
Karl Allgöwer
5 January 1957 (aged 29)
10
VfB Stuttgart
14
DF
Thomas Berthold
12 November 1964 (aged 21)
12
Eintracht Frankfurt
15
DF
Klaus Augenthaler
26 September 1957 (aged 28)
11
Bayern Munich
16
MF
Olaf Thon
1 May 1966 (aged 20)
10
Schalke 04
17
DF
Ditmar Jakobs
28 August 1953 (aged 32)
14
Hamburger SV
18
MF
Uwe Rahn
21 May 1962 (aged 24)
9
Borussia Mönchengladbach
19
FW
Klaus Allofs
5 December 1956 (aged 29)
40
1. FC Köln
20
FW
Dieter Hoeneß
7 January 1953 (aged 33)
4
Bayern Munich
21
MF
Wolfgang Rolff
26 December 1959 (aged 26)
17
Hamburger SV
22
GK
Eike Immel
27 November 1960 (aged 25)
4
Borussia Dortmund
It was stormy time – along with Brazil and Argentina, West Germany was the most mercilessly criticized team at home. In their case, though, domestic criticism was shared with international opinions. Beckenbauer succeeded somewhat to pacify public opinion – this was the first time in modern times when West Germany was going to the finals without big expectations and everybody was seemingly resigned to the fact the team was far from great – but was unable to stop the scandals, the internal fighting, and bad mouthing. No matter how much he tried and how diplomatic he was, Beckenbauer was unable to convince Schuster to join the squad. The pact he made with Schumacher to keep his mouth shut at the finals was broken by the goalkeeper. The atmosphere in the team was sick and Beckenbauer had to make heroic efforts just to keep the team going. Going was rather difficult and certainly unpleasant, so West Germany was not in great shape to win the group. It was more than possible they were not going even to reach the second phase of the finals, but one can hardly dismiss a German team – if anything, they were fighters. Ugly or not, they were going to fight and possibly succeed. Succeed in reaching second stage. Very likely second in the group.
Scotland
Head coach: Alex Ferguson
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Jim Leighton
24 July 1958 (aged 27)
26
Aberdeen
2
DF
Richard Gough
5 April 1962 (aged 24)
23
Dundee United
3
DF
Maurice Malpas
3 August 1962 (aged 23)
10
Dundee United
4
MF
Graeme Souness (Captain)
6 May 1953 (aged 33)
52
Sampdoria
5
DF
Alex McLeish
21 January 1959 (aged 27)
43
Aberdeen
6
DF
Willie Miller
2 May 1955 (aged 31)
48
Aberdeen
7
MF
Gordon Strachan
9 February 1957 (aged 29)
34
Manchester United
8
DF
Roy Aitken
24 November 1958 (aged 27)
20
Celtic
9
MF
Eamonn Bannon
18 April 1958 (aged 28)
9
Dundee United
10
MF
Jim Bett
25 November 1959 (aged 26)
17
Aberdeen
11
MF
Paul McStay
22 October 1964 (aged 21)
14
Celtic
12
GK
Andy Goram
13 April 1964 (aged 22)
3
Oldham Athletic
13
DF
Steve Nicol
11 December 1961 (aged 24)
8
Liverpool
14
DF
David Narey
12 June 1956 (aged 29)
28
Dundee United
15
DF
Arthur Albiston
14 July 1957 (aged 28)
13
Manchester United
16
FW
Frank McAvennie
22 November 1959 (aged 26)
2
West Ham United
17
FW
Steve Archibald
27 September 1956 (aged 29)
26
Barcelona
18
FW
Graeme Sharp
16 October 1960 (aged 25)
6
Everton
19
FW
Charlie Nicholas
30 December 1961 (aged 24)
15
Arsenal
20
FW
Paul Sturrock
10 October 1956 (aged 29)
17
Dundee United
21
FW
Davie Cooper
25 February 1956 (aged 30)
14
Rangers
22
GK
Alan Rough
25 November 1951 (aged 34)
53
Hibernian
Twice unlucky – 1974 and 1978 – so it was high time… but the team was weaker than the versions of the 1970s. Nothing to be done about it, it was objective situation. And Dalglish retired. But Alex Ferguson was coaching and that was a big asset. Souness, Strachan, Archibald, Nicholas – small, but impressive group of talent. Fighting spirit never lacked anyway. With some luck, Scotland could go ahead, but more likely taking third place.
Uruguay
Head coach: Omar Borrás
No.
Pos.
Player
Date of birth (age)
Caps
Club
1
GK
Rodolfo Rodríguez
20 January 1956 (aged 30)
78
Santos
2
DF
Nelson Gutiérrez
13 April 1962 (aged 24)
31
River Plate
3
DF
Eduardo Mario Acevedo
25 September 1959 (aged 26)
37
Defensor Sporting
4
DF
Víctor Diogo
9 April 1958 (aged 28)
31
Palmeiras
5
MF
Miguel Bossio
10 February 1960 (aged 26)
27
Peñarol
6
DF
José Batista
6 March 1962 (aged 24)
N/A
Deportivo Español
7
FW
Antonio Alzamendi
7 June 1956 (aged 29)
N/A
River Plate
8
MF
Jorge Barrios (Captain)
24 January 1961 (aged 25)
53
Olympiacos
9
FW
Jorge da Silva
11 December 1961 (aged 24)
N/A
Atlético Madrid
10
MF
Enzo Francescoli
12 November 1961 (aged 24)
22
River Plate
11
MF
Sergio Santín
6 August 1956 (aged 29)
14
Atlético Nacional
12
GK
Fernando Alvez
4 September 1959 (aged 26)
N/A
Peñarol
13
DF
César Vega
2 September 1959 (aged 26)
7
Danubio
14
DF
Darío Pereyra
19 October 1956 (aged 29)
30
São Paulo
15
DF
Eliseo Rivero
27 December 1957 (aged 28)
6
Peñarol
16
MF
Mario Saralegui
24 April 1959 (aged 27)
26
Peñarol
17
MF
José Zalazar
26 October 1963 (aged 22)
N/A
Peñarol
18
MF
Rubén Paz
8 August 1959 (aged 26)
N/A
Internacional
19
FW
Venancio Ramos
20 June 1959 (aged 26)
N/A
Lens
20
FW
Carlos Aguilera
21 September 1964 (aged 21)
38
Nacional
21
FW
Wilmar Cabrera
31 July 1959 (aged 26)
24
Valencia
22
GK
Celso Otero
1 February 1958 (aged 28)
0
Montevideo Wanderers
An enigma of some special kind: at home Borras was heavily criticized and dark predictions were abundant, but if somebody from the outside criticized the team, the whole country united in defence. Some of the domestic criticism was a bit weird too: Borras used mostly foreign-based players and he was criticized for that, a left-over from 1970s attitudes. By mid-80s, it was common for almost every national team to have foreign-based players and some were practically made of such. Uruguay hardly had a choice – its best players played abroad for years. Domestic criticism was picked-up by foreign observers to the tune of considering the squad hastily arranged rag-tag bunch, which was not true. What was true was that two key players were left out largely for political reasons, a Borras’s whimsicality, but in the case of Hugo de Leon it was not even substantial loss – Uruguay had decent defenders even without him. More crucial criticism was the inclination towards rough play, but nothing new in that. Borras more or less promoted defensive approach, but it was his uncertainty the biggest problem: it looked like he was unable to make a sound tactical scheme based on the great abilities of Francescoli, just voted the best South American player. But the Uruguayans were fighters and the dark 1970s were over – Uruguay won Mondialito and after that the South American championship, it was not a team to be dismissed. They were not outsiders – only tentatively they could be seen as finishing last in the group: they could win the group just as well. Even if they were not suddenly inspired, their kind of rough play could be difficult to beat and very intimidating for unimaginative teams like West Germany and Scotland, but also for the crafty, yet, a bit fragile total-football team, like Denmark.
Again, in this group there were no outsiders and anything could happen.