Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so, and resigned in November 1982.

[7] Colombian president Julio César Turbay Ayala was initially against holding the tournament in his country, but reluctantly granted permission in October 1980.

[8] However, the next Colombian president, Belisario Betancur, declared on 5 November 1982 that they could not afford to host the World Cup under the terms that FIFA demanded.

[11] Havelange in turn criticised the United States' handling of stadium selection for the football tournament at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

[10] Also working in Mexico's favour was Havelange secretly promising the broadcast rights to Televisa ahead of the vote.

"[11] A severe earthquake in September 1985, eight months before the tournament, cast doubt[13] over Mexico's ability to organise the event, but the stadiums were not affected and it was decided to go ahead with the preparations.

[15] For the design of the logo an unofficial motto was adopted: "El Mundo Unido por Un Balón" ("The World United by a Ball").

Its name comes from picante, a Spanish word meaning "spicy", and was also a pun on the "PK" abbreviation of the football term penalty kick.

All of the venues listed hosted knockout round matches except the ones in Nezahualcoyotl, Irapuato, Zapopan, Toluca and the Estadio Tecnologico in Monterrey.

The final set of matches saw Argentina beating Bulgaria 2–0, and Italy narrowly defeating South Korea 3–2.

Group C pitted a strong Dynamo Kyiv-dominated Soviet Union side against the reigning European champions France.

Group D saw Brazil start against Spain, winning 1–0 after the referee failed to validate a legal goal scored by Míchel.

They beat Alex Ferguson's Scotland 1–0 in their first game, then hammered Uruguay 6–1, with Preben Elkjær hitting a hat-trick.

Denmark beat one of the favourites to win the tournament, West Germany, 2–0 thanks to a Jesper Olsen penalty and a goal from John Eriksen.

During that game José Batista of Uruguay was sent off after less than one minute of play for a foul on Strachan, a World Cup record that still stands.

In their last first-round game, with the captaincy taken over by Peter Shilton in goal, a first-half Gary Lineker hat-trick helped the reshaped side beat Poland 3–0 – although losing yet another player to a ban for the next round, Terry Fenwick receiving his second booking of the tournament.

Players refused to train between their first and second games (against England and Poland) and were eliminated after a loss to Morocco in the final group match.

The game was level at 2–2 after 90 minutes, and in extra time Stephane Demol and Nico Claesen put Belgium 4–2 up.

Belanov scored from the penalty spot with nine minutes remaining, but neither he nor any of his teammates could find a fourth goal for the Soviet Union.

In the rematch of the 1930 FIFA World Cup Final, Argentina just edged out South American champions Uruguay in Puebla thanks to a 42nd-minute strike from Pedro Pasculli.

In Querétaro, Denmark were eliminated as they went from a 1–0 lead to a 5–1 battering against Spain; key player Frank Arnesen was suspended for the game after being sent off against West Germany in their last group match, for taking a swipe at German playmaker Lothar Matthäus.

At the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, England progressed to the quarter-finals comfortably when they saw off Paraguay 3–0, while Brazil brushed aside Poland 4–0.

West Germany had a much harder time getting past Morocco, for whom goalkeeper Badou Zaki had an outstanding game.

Mexico won 2–0 against Bulgaria with an outstanding scissor-kick goal by Manuel Negrete which is honored by a remembrance plaque at the Azteca.

Five minutes before half-time, France drew level when Michel Platini scored his 41st goal after converting a cross from Dominique Rocheteau.

Brazil had a chance to regain the lead in the second half when Branco was fouled by French keeper Joël Bats in the penalty area.

Socrates, who had earlier missed an open goal and headed an easy chance straight into the French keeper's arms, failed with the first kick for Brazil.

On the hosts' first game outside of the Azteca, Francisco Javier Cruz saw a goal disallowed as West Germany and Mexico drew 0–0 after extra time.