Diego Maradona’s famous ‘Hand of God’ jersey worn during the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal against England sold for over $8.9 million
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Diego Maradona’s shirt that he wore in the famous game against England in Mexico in 1986 has been sold for a new record amount of $8.9 million for a match-worn sports jersey. Maradona donned the bright blue strip as he scored the notorious ‘Hand of God’ goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against the Three Lions.
The former Argentine captain prodded the ball beyond Peter Shilton with his fist, with the officials failing to spot the infringement, to put his country ahead, later saying the goal was made “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God“.
Minutes later, El Pibe de Oro (Maradona’s nickname in Argentina) scored what many believe to be the greatest goal of all time. He went past a series of England players with a sublime dribble on the way to scoring a magnificent solo goal as Argentina won 2-1 and went on to be crowned world champions.
The shirt has been on loan to the National Football Museum in Manchester but was put up for auction at Sotheby’s in London for a bidding period between April 20 to May 4, with estimators expecting it to collect around £4m.
“One of the greatest and most magnificent football players of all time”- Steve Hodge on Diego Maradona
It was an Englishman Steve Hodge who put the iconic jersey of Diego Maradona on sale, calling him “one of the greatest and most magnificent football players of all time.” He also revealed that he had kept the jersey with himself for more than 35 years.
“I have been the proud owner of this item for over 35 years since Diego and I swapped shirts in the tunnel after the famed match. It was an absolute privilege to have played against one of the greatest and most magnificent football players of all time. It has also been a pleasure to share it with the public over the last 20 years at the National Football Museum, where it has been on display,” said Hodge.
“The Hand of God shirt has deep cultural meaning to the football world, the people of Argentina, and the people of England, and I’m certain that the new owner will have immense pride in owning the world’s most iconic football shirt,” added the Englishman.
The successful bid ended up being significantly higher, with Sotheby’s confirming on Wednesday that the shirt went for a whopping £7,142,500.
That eye-watering total makes it the most expensive piece of sporting attire in history, with a 1928-30 road jersey of baseball icon Babe Ruth setting the previous record in 2019, going for £4.4m ($5.6m).
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Sujeeth Shetty
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