This sale takes place on the internet until May 4, while the jersey has left the National Football Museum in Manchester to be exhibited in the London premises of Sotheby's, which is organizing the auction.

A few hours after the opening, a first offer of 4 million pounds (5.2 million dollars), the low estimate of Sotheby's, had been registered on the web page of the sale.

That would make it a record price for a football jersey at auction, as the all-sports record was set in 2019 ($5.6 million) for an outfit by American baseball legend Babe Ruth.

In 2002, a jersey worn by the Brazilian Pelé in the final of the 1970 FIFA World Cup was bought for 157,750 pounds at Christie's, the equivalent of 250,000 euros, a record at the time.

The jersey worn by Maradona when he scored two goals against England in the 1986 World Cup will be auctioned off this month, Sotheby's ADRIAN DENNIS AFP announces

The right shirt?

The sale has a controversial taste.

Part of the family of Diego Maradona, who died on November 25, 2020 at the age of 60, claimed, despite repeated assurances from Sotheby's, that the shirt sold was not the one worn by the Argentine captain when he scored the two goals legendary, in the 2nd half of the match against England, but that of the first half.

Maradona had swapped his shirt at the end of the match with England midfielder Steve Hodge, who owned it for more than 35 years and loaned it to the Manchester Museum.

The two players recounted the episode in one of their respective books.

This quarter-final in Mexico, heavy with symbols four years after the Falklands war between England and Argentina, went down in history and helped write the contrasting legend of Maradona.

In the 51st minute, just after a ball diverted in his area by Steve Hodge, the Argentine captain had scored with his hand - "the hand of God", the player said - but the goal was validated by the referee .

Midfielder Diego Maradona slaloms through the middle of the English defense before scoring the second goal, during Argentina's victory (2-1) in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, June 22, 1986 in Mexico City STAFF AFP/Archives

Only four minutes later, "El Pibe de Oro" had scored an anthology goal, voted "goal of the century" in a FIFA vote, starting from his camp and eliminating four English players then goalkeeper Peter Shilton to score.

Argentina had won the World Cup.

© 2022 AFP