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Shilton kept 10 clean sheets in 17 games at the World Cup. David Cannon/Allsport |
England's most-capped player with 125 appearances, Shilton played at three World Cups where he kept 10 clean sheets in 17 games. His agility, positional sense and all-round dominance of the penalty area made him one of the best goalkeepers ever.
In Spain in 1982, Czechoslovakia, Kuwait, West Germany and Spain all failed to score against him, but England departed the tournament unbeaten after failing to score in the second round.
England's campaign in Mexico started disastrously with a 1-0 defeat by Portugal, but Shilton then kept clean sheets against Morocco, Poland and Paraguay as England advanced to a quarterfinal with Argentina.
It was a match in which, for a second, the unthinkable seemed to have happened. Advancing to the penalty spot to collect a skewed clearance, Shilton seemed to have been beaten in the air by the diminutive Diego Maradona.
But replays clearly showed Maradona had punched the ball, although the goal was allowed to stand. The Argentine later claimed the "Hand of God" had scored it. Minutes later he feinted around Shilton after dribbling from his own half to score arguably the World Cup's greatest-ever goal.
Shilton was back again in 1990, and clean sheets against the Netherlands, Egypt and Belgium helped England reach the quarterfinals, where it survived a 3-2 scare against Cameroon to set up a semifinal against West Germany.
But when Andreas Brehme's freekick cannoned off the England wall, Shilton stumbled and the ball dropped over his head into the net. Although Gary Lineker equalized, England would lose on penalties.
It was the first time Shilton had ever looked vulnerable and, at 41, he played his final international match against Italy in the third-place playoff.
