Diego Maradona Jnr on the World Cup, Naples’ Food Scene and the ‘Beautiful’ Tribute to his Dad you Must Visit

Living up to family legacies can be a burden. A surname can be a heavy cross to bear. This is especially so when it comes to football and your last name happens to be Maradona. In fact, when your full name is Diego Maradona Jnr, there is arguably no bigger legacy to emulate.

Maradona Jnr had little chance of emulating what his father did on green grass. However due to the name, he was put through Napoli’s youth academy in the late 1990s and early 2000s and later joined Genoa.

He slid down the leagues as a player, dabbling in beach soccer for several years, before ending his career at the age of 33 with little known Villa Literno, a team in the province of Caserta.

It’s a sunny afternoon in early 2026 when he discusses all things Naples with Destination Calcio. While he bears the name of Napoli’s most famous World Cup son, it is another heading to the United States that he wishes to focus on first.

Neapolitans have taken to Scott McTominay in a way few expected, to the extent there are murals dedicated to the 29-year-old in the city and Scottish flags can be seen across Naples. And while he’ll never reach the heights of his old man, Maradona Jnr was full of praise for the Scotland international.

He had recently made the bold claim that if his dad ‘was God, then McTominay is Jesus’ for his Campania contributions over the past two seasons. He elaborates on this further to us: “I didn’t expect [McTominay’s impact], it’s rare,” he says. “He’s dominating at the moment, and is one of the best midfielders in the world. There’s no doubt about it, [he is] an immense player.

“Whenever he senses that the moment is crucial, he steps up. He can do everything – he defends well, he’s good in the air, he’s a threat in attack, he scores plenty of goals and he’s a leader in the dressing room – both on and off the pitch.

“He’s the kind of player I hope we can have wearing our shirt for many years to come.”

Argentina, naturally, plays a big role in Diego’s life. If you’ve ever been to Naples and Buenos Aires, the similarities between the two cities are scary. While official figures are non-existent, it’s estimated roughly hundreds of thousands of Neapolitans immigrated to Argentina in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, and thus forging links between the two countries forever.

And Maradona Jnr insists there was nothing to tell the two cities apart when celebrating in his hometown after La Albiceleste ended their 36-year-old wait for another World Cup in 2022.

“We deserved it because we lost many finals since last winning the World Cup in ’86,” he says. “We lost a final [in 2014] and two Copa America finals [in 2015 and 2016], so we suffered in those years.

“The final [in 2022] was a disaster, I almost had a heart attack when Dibu [Emiliano Martinez] saved [Randal] Kolo Muani’s shot, I was dying,” he laughs.

The link between Naples and Argentina has always been strong. On the eve of the Italia ’90 semi-final, Maradona infamously tapped into the complex relationship between the city and the rest of Italy, imploring locals to support him and his country against their homeland.

The scheme had the desired effect. The atmosphere was more subdued for the host nation in the Stadio San Paolo (the stadium that now bears Maradona’s name) than it had been in Rome for the rest of their games. Argentina won on penalties and knocked Italy out of their own tournament.

Maradona Jnr states when it comes to nations, he feels more in tune with his dad’s heritage than the country of his birth.

“I feel Argentine first and foremost, but I’m also happy when Italy win,” he explains. “It’s not easy, but we [Italy] deserve to be at a World Cup because it’s been a long time since we’ve been to one.”

Following a harrowing play-off defeat at the hands of Bosnia and Herzogovina, the wait will be even longer, with Italian fans watching from the sidelines as 48 nations party at the 2026 edition. For those in Naples, there are worse places to be stuck watching it all on a screen this summer.

The city is having its cultural moment, with more than 14 million tourists descending in 2024, and that figure likely to rise once official 2025 figures are released. Maradona Jnr is only too happy to pick out the best ways to enjoy his hometown.

“Enjoy yourself, go to the lungomare (sea front), go to visit the mural of my dad, which is a crazy thing, it’s beautiful,” he says. “For me, the city centre is very nice and with a lot of history, a lot of people who live 24 hours a day, because Naples is a city that never sleeps.

“When I’m having a bad day I’ll go to the sea front and go to eat something, look at the sea and I feel better.”

And the food that brightens his mood the most?

“For pizza, I love Pizzeria Concettina ai Tre Santi in the Rione Sanita district, I love how they handle things,” he says. “For fish, it’s Terrazza Calabritto in Piazza Vittoria.”

When the son of Napoli’s greatest ever player tells you the things to do in Naples, consider it gospel.