1. England v Argentina
As far as I am concerned the rivalry between England and Argentina is the biggest footballing rivalry between national teams. Like so many others, this particular rivalry has grown out of off-field incidents and on-field controversies, however, the rivalry differs from others in that it is an intercontinental one; typically football rivalries are territorially based like the before mentioned Italy-France and Brazil-Argentina rivalries. Meetings between the two were relatively tame before the World Cup quarter final in 1986. This match will forever go down in history for its off-field relevance accompanied by possibly the most controversial goal in World Cup football. The Falklands War was fought between the United Kingdom and Argentina and concerned the sovereignty over the Falkland Islands off the south coast of Argentina. The conflict spanned two months from April-June 1982 and had a strong impact on both countries. When the two teams were drawn against each other at the quarter-final stage of the '86 tournament in Mexico, four years had passed since the war and simmering tensions between the two nations remained. Argentina sought on-field revenge after having lost the war but if the conflict was all the talk pre-game what happened during the match would overshadow everything. Argentina took the lead through Diego Maradona as he handled the ball from an errant cross and into the net it went. Despite the protests of the English players the goal stood and was later dubbed "The Hand of God" by Maradona. It wasn't the only memorable incident from this game as Maradona went on to score his second of the match, which has been voted in as the greatest goal in World Cup History. The victory to Argentina will always be the first discussed when talking of the football rivalry between the two but there have been several other notable games that have contributed to the establishment of the rivalry. David Beckham's red card in the 1998 World Cup round of 16 match jumps to mind. The match was won by Argentina on penalties and was another occasion of the Argentines knocking the English out of a major competition. Every time these two great footballing nations meet in the future you will see footage of the 'Hand of God' and Maradona's miracle goal along with Beckham's red card all while touching on the Falklands conflict. These matches always entertain and I would love to see the two meet again in Brazil next summer. That concludes what I see as the 5 biggest national football rivalries in the world. Next I'll address what I believe to be the 5 biggest club rivalries in the world at present....