One of football’s most infamous pieces of memorabilia — the ball used when Diego Maradona scored his ‘Hand of God’ goal against England at the 1986 World Cup — has changed hands for $3.35m (€2.9m) at auction.
Heritage Auctions in the United States recorded the sale, though the final figure came in well short of expectations: approximately $6.7m (€5.7m) below the $10m (€8.6m) estimate.
The Dallas-based auction house had opened bidding with a $2.5m (€2.1m) starting price for the Adidas Azteca ball.
The match that cemented the ball’s place in sporting lore took place on 22 June, 1986, when Maradona struck twice as Argentina beat England in their quarter-final at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
His first goal remains one of the World Cup’s defining controversies, as he appeared to punch the ball over England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and into the net.
Minutes later, Maradona produced a breathtaking solo run and finish — a goal later voted ‘Goal of the Century’ — to seal his two-goal haul in the same game.
The Argentina playmaker, who died aged 60 in November 2020, famously described the opener as coming “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.
Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, who officiated the match, retrieved the ball at full-time and retained it for more than three decades.
He sold the ball in 2022 for $2.37m (€2m). The buyer then returned it to the market in 2023, but the item failed to reach its reserve price.
The ball is the latest artefact from that quarter-final to command a huge sum. Maradona’s shirt from the match — owned by England midfielder Steve Hodge — fetched a record-breaking £7.1m (€6m) at auction in May 2022, well above an expected price of around £4m (€3.4m).
Argentina’s victory over England paved the way for an eventual title, as they went on to claim the World Cup for the second time with a 3-2 win over West Germany in the final.
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