--- title: This Icon's Reactions Watching the World Cup Are Pure Drama description: Diego Maradona had quite the emotional experience in the stands during Argentina's game featuring Lionel Messi against Nigeria on Tuesday. canonical: https://time.com/5322748/maradona-messi-world-cup/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-26T20:36:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:32.720Z og:title: Soccer Legend Has the Most Dramatic World Cup Reaction Ever og:description: Diego Maradona may no longer play soccer, but his passion as a fan is pure drama og:url: https://time.com/5322748/maradona-messi-world-cup/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4274786862fbbc29/698933ecbc6cfc75213e64f9/diego-maradona-world-cup-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2800 og:image:height: 1575 og:image:alt: FBL-WC-2018-MATCH39-NGR-ARG og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Soccer Legend Has the Most Dramatic World Cup Reaction Ever twitter:description: Diego Maradona may no longer play soccer, but his passion as a fan is pure drama twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4274786862fbbc29/698933ecbc6cfc75213e64f9/diego-maradona-world-cup-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Soccer Legend Displays Every Mood Known to Man With His Dramatic World Cup Reaction > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=29a5fb0d-37d9-4315-ba8a-7b9b0f73d47d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 26, 2018 8:36 PM UTC  Former Argentina forward Diego Maradona (C) celebrates the opening goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group D football match between Nigeria and Argentina at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in Saint Petersburg on June 26, 2018. Former Argentina forward Diego Maradona (C) celebrates the opening goal during the Russia 2018 World Cup Group D football match between Nigeria and Argentina at the Saint Petersburg Stadium in Saint Petersburg on June 26, 2018. Giuseppe Cacace—AFP/Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 26, 2018 8:36 PM UTC Soccer legend [Diego Maradona](http://time.com/5062032/maradonna-bronze-statue-india/) of Argentina is at the [2018 World Cup](http://time.com/money/5321363/watch-2018-world-cup-games-online-free-argentina-nigeria/) this year to watch his country’s team in their attempt to claim world dominance — and in true icon style, he’s already making waves even just as a spectator in the audience. During Tuesday’s Argentina match against rival Nigeria in St. Petersburg, photographers snapped Maradona in the stands displaying every mood known to man. There was unfiltered passion, utter exhaustion, intense frustration and every shade of emotion in between on this spectrum of experiences. Considered one of the sport’s finest players of past decades, Maradona assisted Argentina in its second, memorable [World Cup win in 1986](https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/world-game/104218437/world-cup-history-diego-maradona-dominates-as-argentina-win-in-1986). Following his retirement from playing, he also coached a number of teams, including the [2010 World Cup](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/jul/04/diego-maradona-argentina-world-cup) Argentina squad during that tournament in South Africa, although they ultimately came up short. The famously larger-than-life personality’s grand emotional display on Tuesday tracked the dramatic twists and turns of the game, which saw [Lionel Messi](http://time.com/money/5313998/lionel-messi-net-worth/) score a beautiful goal early on before Argentina’s play began to falter. By the end, however, they brought it back and managed to [clinch victory](http://www.skysports.com/football/nigeria-vs-argentina/live/385204) over Nigeria, ensuring their continued play in Russia for this World Cup. They face France in the round of 16 next. > [](https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1011682853455847424) > [](https://twitter.com/RaminNasibov/status/1011687134196109312) > [](https://twitter.com/EliottG%5F/status/1011684247827083266) > [](https://twitter.com/GoalUSA/status/1011696355507625991) > [](https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/1011696625989902336) Before the game even commenced, however, Maradona was clearly in a great mood, even taking a minute to dance with another spectator wearing rival Nigeria’s colors. Perhaps he’ll have to make this a good-luck routine as the tournament continues. > [](https://twitter.com/FootballIndexUK/status/1011693532913037313) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5322748/maradona-messi-world-cup/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5322748/maradona-messi-world-cup/"},"headline":"Soccer Legend Displays Every Mood Known to Man With His Dramatic World Cup Reaction","datePublished":"2018-06-26T20:36:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:53:32.720Z","description":"Maradona may no longer play, but he still has plenty of passion","url":"https://time.com/5322748/maradona-messi-world-cup/","keywords":["Newsfeed","World Cup 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4274786862fbbc29/698933ecbc6cfc75213e64f9/diego-maradona-world-cup-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4274786862fbbc29/698933ecbc6cfc75213e64f9/diego-maradona-world-cup-2018.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FBL-WC-2018-MATCH39-NGR-ARG","caption":"FBL-WC-2018-MATCH39-NGR-ARG","creditText":"Giuseppe Cacace—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5322748/maradona-messi-world-cup/","name":"Soccer Legend Displays Every Mood Known to Man With His Dramatic World Cup Reaction"}}]}] ```