A piece of World Cup history was sold at auction on Saturday evening. The ball with which Diego Maradona scored his two goals during the quarter-final of the 1986 World Cup against England (2-1 victory) found a buyer for the modest sum of 3,355,000 dollars, or approximately 2.7 million Swiss francs, indicates the “New York Times”.
The Argentinian’s two successes during this meeting are among the most legendary in the history of football. The first is none other than “the hand of God”, which everyone remembers. The other, his famous solitary ride during which he eliminated several adversaries, is no less iconic.
The ball was put up for sale by the American company Heritage Auction. Although the transaction amount appears very high, it is considered disappointing. In fact, experts estimated the property at more than $10 million.
“I think it is the most emblematic ball in the history of football and the market for exceptional sports collectibles has grown significantly,” explained the vice-president of the sports division of Heritage Auctions to AFP in July.
Sold for the first time by the match referee
This is the second time this ball has been sold at auction. In 2022, the referee of the game, the Tunisian Ali Bennaceur, who took the ball away after the match, sold it for an amount of 2.15 million francs.
During the same auction on Saturday, boxer Muhammad Ali’s bathrobe went for 440,000 francs.
