Bound by historical thread of brawling and brilliance

Rucking. Ineffable. Shambles. Three words sum up an often ill-tempered soap opera of England-Argentina games that has seen a dozen instalments since 1951. From maestros to mavericks, from brawling to brilliance to breathtaking skill, only two episodes have finished without goals.

The second match never finished at all. It was a friendly, in Buenos Aires in May 1953, and was abandoned at 0-0 after 21 minutes because of torrential rain. The respective Football Associations agreed the result should stand. The last encounter, arguably the dullest, was the scoreless Wembley friendly two years ago, played on the sombre night that Sir Stanley Matthews' death was announced.

The nations first met in 1951, in a friendly involving the likes of Tom Finney and Jackie Milburn. Stan Mortensen scored twice for England as they edged it 2-1. The third game – and the first of four in World Cup tournaments – was 11 years later in Rancagua, Chile. A win was crucial for England after an opening defeat to Hungary and they secured it, 3-1. The first goal was a Ron Flowers penalty after some handling in the area (sound familiar?). The second came from Bobby Charlton and the third from Jimmy Greaves. Jose Francisco Sanfilippo scored a late consolation.

Argentina prevailed 1-0 when the sides met again, in 1964, in the Jubilee Tournament in Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the Brazilian FA's 50th anniversary. And then the rucking started in earnest.

First up came the battle of '66, when Argentina's captain, Antonio Rattin, made no attempt to control his side as they hacked and stamped all over Alf Ramsey's men, who did not refrain from the odd bit of argy bargy themselves. When Rattin got his marching orders, it took a full 10 minutes to get him off the pitch. "Animals," Ramsey famously declared. England laboured to a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Geoff Hurst.

Eight years later, and three weeks after the FA had sacked Ramsey and appointed Joe Mercer as a caretaker, England faced Argentina in London again. The South Americans, en route to the 1974 World Cup that Ramsey's side had failed to qualify for, managed a 2-2 draw, a young Mario Kempes scoring twice in reply to strikes from Frank Worthington and Mick Channon. It was not the prettiest game and Mercer later chastised his captain, Emlyn "Crazy Horse" Hughes, for some unsavoury moments, including a spat with the visitors' Ruben Glaria.

Three years on, in June 1977, things got really ugly at Boca Juniors' stadium during a 1-1 "friendly" draw. Stuart Pearson put England ahead and Daniel Bertoni equalised. Towards the end Bertoni got involved in a scuffle with Trevor Cherry, punched him in the face and knocked out two of his teeth. "Trevor is the unluckiest player to be sent off," was Don Revie's understated response after both protagonists had been shown red cards.

There were also ill-tempered games in 1980, when England beat the reigning world champions 3-1 at Wembley courtesy of two goals from Liverpool's David Johnson and one from Kevin Keegan, and in 1991, when England won the Challenge Cup at Wembley with a 2-2 draw.

The 1980 game had been notable for the presence of a young bundle of tricks called Diego Maradona. He earned a consolation penalty, which Daniel Passarella converted, and almost scored himself.

And so to 1986, and Maradona's – now officially recognised – greatest World Cup goal ever, immediately after his "Hand of God" effort. Then in 1998, a St-Etienne coming-of-age for the wonderboy Owen followed by a petulant kick from a man called Beckham. And another defeat on penalties, involving David Batty of all people. Rucking. Ineffable. Shambles.