BREAKING: Diego Maradona’s Hand Of God Ball Sells For £2.5m At Auction [PHOTO]
The football used by Diego Maradona to score his infamous “Hand of God” goal against England at the 1986 World Cup has sold for £2.5m at auction in the United States.
The Adidas Azteca ball fetched $3.3m at Heritage Auctions on Saturday, although the price fell well short of the $10m, or £7.3m, figure experts had expected.
The ball was used throughout Argentina’s 2-1 quarter-final win over England at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, one of the most memorable matches in World Cup history.
Maradona scored both goals for Argentina, but his opener sparked controversy. He punched the ball over England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, yet the referee failed to spot the infringement and awarded the goal.
After the match, Maradona famously said he had scored it “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.
Minutes later, the Argentina captain produced a goal that stood in stark contrast to his first. He picked up the ball inside his own half, beat five England outfield players, rounded Shilton and scored. The strike later became known as the “goal of the century”.
The ball remained in the possession of Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, who officiated the match, for more than three decades after he collected it at full-time.
Bin Nasser sold it in 2022 for $2.37m, or £1.74m. The new owner put it back up for auction the following year, but the item failed to sell after bids did not meet the reserve price.
Heritage Auctions specialist Mike Provenzale described the ball as a unique piece of football history before Saturday’s sale.
Bin Nasser signed a letter in 2023 confirming that the Adidas Azteca was the only ball used during the match. Independent authentication later supported the claim.
The sale came four years after another famous piece of memorabilia from the same game set a remarkable auction record.
THE Genius Media Nigeria reports that Maradona’s Argentina shirt from the England quarter-final sold for £7.1m in 2022.