Everton striker Gary Lineker won the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup finals but recalled he was approached by Barcelona while in Mexico
England's hat-trick hero Gary Lineker celebrates after scoring the first of his three goals against Poland at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico
England's hat-trick hero Gary Lineker celebrates after scoring the first of his three goals against Poland at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico(Image: Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)
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The ECHO’s Christopher Beesley continues his daily series of articles on Everton and the World Cup running throughout the tournament in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico.
Gary Lineker revealed that he was “tapped up” by Barcelona while on his way to winning the Golden Boot as top scorer at the 1986 World Cup finals and he blamed Everton’s failure to retain the title that year on his “lucky boots” going missing.
Joining from his local club Leicester City for £800,000, the former England striker spent a single season at Goodison Park, netting 40 goals in all competitions in 57 matches throughout the 1985/86 campaign before signing for the Catalan giants in a £2.8million deal.
Speaking in 2018, Lineker told Danny Baker on their podcast Lineker and Baker Behind Closed Doors: “I kind of got tapped up by Barcelona when I was at Everton. It was around the time of the World Cup.
“They’d got in touch with the club and the club did tell me and then it went a little bit quiet. I said to my agent, ‘the World Cup is on now, I can’t have that disturbing me’, so off we went to Mexico.
“On the way out he said, ‘they’ve gone really quiet anyway, it doesn't really look like it’s happening’. They went really quiet after the first two games when I didn’t score and didn’t play very well but then I scored a hat-trick against Poland and then two against Paraguay and I was top-scorer at the World Cup at that particular stage.”
Lineker would go on to extend his tally to six with a consolation strike against Argentina in the quarter-finals after Diego Maradona’s double strike and although the Napoli star would net another brace in the 2-0 semi-final victory against Belgium, he would draw a blank in the 3-2 win over West Germany in the final to ensure he finished on five goals alongside Brazil’s Careca and Spain’s Emilio Butragueno of Spain, one shy of the Everton man.
The interest in Lineker was revived though and he said: “There were obviously no mobile phones in those days and we were in a little hotel in Monterrey where we were allowed one phone call home per week and could receive one a week from the reception. A call got put through to me and it was from my agent.
“He said, ‘I know you said not to disturb you at all under any circumstances during the World Cup if there’s any interest from any club whatsoever but Barcelona have been on and they’ve basically said you’ve got to agree to sign now or they’re going to walk away. I don’t think it would have been the right thing not to tell you’. I said, ‘well, go back to tell them, if they want me now, they’ll want me at the end of the World Cup – it’s too important’.”
The Everton and the World Cup series sees Christopher Beesley writing about the Blues' links with the tournament throughout the 2026 finals
The Everton and the World Cup series sees Christopher Beesley writing about the Blues' links with the tournament throughout the 2026 finals
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Lineker also blamed Everton missing out on the League Championship that year on his “lucky boots” being mysteriously absent for a crucial game in the title run-in at the Manor Ground only for them to be fixed up again in time for the World Cup. Howard Kendall's side won the league in both 1985 and 1987 but were edged out for top spot by neighbours Liverpool that year – who would also go on to beat them 3-1 in the FA Cup final and secure the double.
He said: “I had a pair of lucky boots. I used to go through several pairs a season but I couldn't stop scoring – it was like a goal a game building up to the World Cup in 1986, I was knocking them in for fun.
“I was at Everton and we were top of the league. There were three games left: It was Oxford away then we had to play Southampton at home and West Ham at home to finish.
“We were just ahead of Liverpool but we had to win all three to guarantee winning the league. We played at Oxford and we arrived and the skip came full of the boots and my lucky boots weren’t in it.”
Lineker added: “I’d scored a goal a game but I had to borrow someone’s boots, they were a size too big and I can’t remember whose they were, and I missed two or three really good chances and we lost 1-0 and it cost us the league title. I got my boots back for the next game and scored a hat-trick against Southampton and two in the last match with West Ham to finish with 30 league goals for the season.
“They were now absolutely knackered these boots with holes in them and everything, so I sent them off to Adidas and they fixed them for me for the World Cup. They patched them together and I won the Golden Boot.
“Even during the World Cup they fell apart again but we had them sent off and specially repaired again and they’re now in the Adidas museum in Germany.”
Today’s games – Quarter-finals: Norway v England, 10pm, Miami; Argentina v Switzerland, 2am Sunday, Kansas City.