The football with which legendary Argentina player Diego Maradona scored his infamous 'Hand of God' goal at the 1986 FIFA World Cup has sold at auction for $3.3 million.
The ball was sold at Heritage Auctions in the United States on Saturday, although it had been expected to fetch closer to $10 million, or around £7.3 million, according to reports.
Maradona used the ball to score one of football's most controversial goals of all time during Argentina's 2-1 quarter-final victory over England at the 1986 World Cup, which they went on to win.
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The Argentine legend punched the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, with the incident going unnoticed by the officials. After the match, Maradona famously told reporters that the goal had been scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.
Moments after that goal, Maradona produced another iconic moment in the same match, scoring what many football fans and pundits call as 'Goal of the Century'. Maradona started from inside his own half, dribbled past five England outfield players before slotting the ball past Shilton from close range.
A 'One-Of-One' Piece Of Football History
Ahead of the auction, Mike Provenzale, a specialist auctioneer at Heritage, described the ball as an exceptionally significant piece of football memorabilia.
"It's a true one-of-one item. Arguably the most significant soccer item that exists," Provenzale told Reuters.
The Adidas Azteca ball was collected by Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser at full-time after the 1986 quarter-final, and he kept it for more than three decades.
In 2023, Bin Nasser signed a letter confirming that it was the only ball used during the match, a claim that was subsequently supported by further independent authentication.
Bin Nasser had sold the ball in 2022 for $2.37 million, or £1.74 million. Its new owner put it up for auction again in 2023, but the item failed to sell after bids did not meet the minimum value set.
The latest sale marks another major auction involving memorabilia from the famous Argentina-England encounter. The shirt worn by Maradona during the same match was sold for £7.1 million at auction in 2022.
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Maradona made 21 World Cup appearances throughout his career, in which he was directly involved in 16 goals, scoring eight and providing eight assists. And across 91 international appearances, Maradona scored 34 goals.
On Nov. 25, 2020, Diego Maradona died at the age of 60 in Argentina.
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