Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ ball sells for £2.5m
The football with which Diego Maradona scored his famous ‘hand of God’ goal at the 1986 World Cup has sold at auction for £2.5m. Maradona famously punched the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton in Argentina’s 2-1 quarter-final win over England. After the game, he told reporters it had been scored “a little with the head [...] The post Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ ball sells for £2.5m appeared first…
The ball used by Diego Maradona to score his infamous 'Hand of God' goal during Argentina's 2-1 victory over England in the 1986 World Cup final has fetched £2.5m at auction. Maradona claimed the ball had been scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God." The high-profile sale took place at Heritage Auctions in the United States on Saturday, though it was estimated to bring in a minimum of $10m (£7.3m).
Mike Provenzale, a specialist auctioneer at Heritage, described the ball as a unique, one-of-a-kind item, stating it is arguably the most significant soccer artifact ever created.
Ali Bin Nasser, the Tunisian referee who oversaw the match in 1986, collected the Adidas Azteca ball following its goal and kept it for over three decades. In 2023, he provided a letter confirming it was the sole ball employed during the game, which has also been authenticated by independent experts. In 2022, he sold the ball for $2.37m (£1.74m), and it was subsequently put up for auction again in 2023 but failed to reach the minimum value set for bids.
The shirt worn by Maradona during the same match was auctioned for £7.1m in 2022.
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- Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ ball sells for £2.5m myjoyonline.com
