Sold for millions! The ball from Maradona's most scandalous goal finds a new owner
One of the most controversial artifacts in football history has found a new owner.
Details: According to L'Équipe, the ball used for Diego Maradona's famous Hand of God goal against England at the 1986 World Cup has been sold at auction for €2.8 million. The sale was organized by the American auction house Heritage Auctions, where the historic lot went under the hammer on Saturday evening.
That quarter-final, played on June 22, 1986 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, became legendary: Argentina beat England 2-1, and Maradona scored both goals, first punching the ball into the net with his hand, and then dribbling past almost the entire English team for what was later voted the Goal of the Century. The ball was kept after the match by Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, who first sold it back in 2022 for around €2.3 million. This time experts expected the lot to fetch up to $10 million, with a starting bid of $2.5 million, but the final price fell short of those forecasts.
Even so, the sale once again confirmed the incredible value of memorabilia linked to the Argentine genius, who passed away in November 2020. It's worth noting that the shirt Maradona wore in that very match against England was sold in 2022 for a record $9.3 million, becoming one of the most expensive pieces of sports memorabilia in history.
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Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
