Football in five headlines

1966

Extra time at Wembley, a Russian linesman, and the only hat-trick ever scored in a World Cup final. England have not reached another one for the rest of the century that followed, which is part of why the date is burned into the national memory.

1970

The first World Cup broadcast in colour, and the side usually named the greatest ever assembled. Brazil won every match they played in the tournament, Jairzinho scored in all six, and the fourth goal in the final is still shown as an argument for what the game can be.

1986

Four minutes after the handball, Diego Maradona ran from his own half past half the England team to score what was later voted the goal of the century. Both goals came in the same match, four years after the Falklands war, which is why the fixture has never been ordinary since.

1995

Jean-Marc Bosman was a Belgian midfielder whose club blocked his move after his contract expired. He took the case to the European Court of Justice and won, and the balance of power between clubs and players shifted permanently — as did wages, transfer fees and the shape of every squad in Europe.

2016

Bookmakers had offered 5,000 to 1 at the start of the season — longer odds than they gave the Loch Ness monster being found. Leicester had narrowly avoided relegation the year before. No one has since matched what that squad did, and the odds themselves have become the shorthand for the impossible.