The ball used by Argentine forward Diego Maradona to score the famous “Hand of God” goal during the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England has been sold at auction for $3.35 million—though it was initially expected to fetch $10 million, ESPN reports.
Cover image © Wikipedia
The starting price for the item was $2.5 million.
Argentina won that match 2–1, with Maradona scoring both goals. After the game, he joked that the first goal was scored “a little with the head and a little with the hand of God.” The second goal of the match would later be dubbed the “Goal of the Century”—the Argentine dribbled past five England players before beating the goalkeeper.
The match referee, Ali Bin Nasser of Tunisia, kept the ball after the game and sold it in 2022 for $2.37 million. The new owner attempted to resell it in 2023, but the auction failed to go through as bids fell short of the reserve price. However, the jersey Maradona wore during that match was sold in 2022 for a record $9.28 million.
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