Hong Kong vs China: ‘May 19 Incident’ that ended the World Cup dreams of ‘Big Brother’
- Hong Kong football’s ‘finest hour’ came in Beijing in 1985, beating ‘Big Brother’ 2-1 in front of 80,000 hostile fans
- Loss that ended China’s Mexico ’86 hopes sparked riots and still hurts 35 years on
“The May 19 Incident” still casts a shadow over the Chinese game 35 years on from Hong Kong’s 2-1 win over “Big Brother” at Beijing’s Workers’ Stadium, ending China’s dream of qualifying for the 1986 Fifa World Cup in Mexico.
Not only was there embarrassment on the pitch but off it as some of the 80,000 fans rioted after the final whistle, overturning cars in scenes of unrest not seen since the revolution in 1949, with the PLA called in to restore order.
“HK win sparks riot” and “Siege of the Workers’ Stadium” ran the front page headlines in the South China Morning Post the following morning.
“Peking, May 19 [1985] – A magnificent Hong Kong team had their finest hour in international soccer here tonight when they beat China 2-1 to emerge champions of Asia Group 4A,” read the first line of that front page story.
While it was certainly Hong Kong’s finest hour, it was equally China’s darkest day.