Maradona's 'Hand of God' ball sells for £2.5m

A football used by Diego Maradona to score his legendary "Hand of God" goal at the 1986 World Cup has sold at auction for £2.5 million. The Argentine striker famously deflected the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton during Argentina's 2-1 quarter-final victory over the host nation. Maradona's assertion that the goal was scored with "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God" has since become part of football folklore.

After the match, Maradona himself claimed the ball had been scored with a combination of skill and divine intervention. The Adidas Azteca ball, which was the only one used during the game, was collected by Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser at full-time and kept in his possession for over three decades. In 2023, Bin Nasser signed a letter confirming the ball's authenticity and that it was the sole ball employed in the match, a claim later verified by independent experts.

The shirt worn by Maradona during the same tournament fetched £7.1 million at auction in 2022. This latest sale, conducted by Heritage Auctions in the United States, represents a significant milestone for memorabilia from the iconic World Cup. Despite the expected higher valuation, the ball had previously been put up for auction in 2023 but failed to meet its reserve price.