The shirt of the late Argentine star Diego Maradona, which he wore when he scored two perhaps the most famous goals in football history, set a new record for the sale of a sports memorabilia at auction for 7.14 million pounds ($8.93 million) on Wednesday.
Maradona wore Argentina's No. 10 shirt against England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.
Six minutes after the start of the second half, he put his country in the lead with a goal scored with his hand, but Ali bin Nasser, the former Tunisian referee who managed the match, did not see the handball and scored the goal.
La Mano de Dios: a goal scored by Argentine footballer Diego Maradona (1960-2020) during the Arg v Eng quarter final of the 1986 World Cup.
pic.twitter.com/EQjzis3Me5
— Ian Fraser (@Ian_Fraser) May 4, 2022
After 4 minutes, Maradona scored one of the greatest goals in the history of the World Cup, after he launched the ball from the middle of his team's court, and presented charming technical glimpses with his left foot, to dodge several English players, including goalkeeper and captain Peter Shilton, before he calmly deposited the ball into the net.
Former England midfielder Steve Hodge obtained the shirt after exchanging it with Maradona after the match, and he announced last month that it was being offered for sale at auction 19 years after it was displayed in the National Football Museum in England.
"This historic shirt bears an important memory not only in the history of sports but in the history of the 20th century," said Braham Watcher, Head of Sotheby's Apparel and Collectibles Unit.
Sotheby's said the buyer was unknown.
The blue shirt worn by Diego Maradona when he scored two momentous goals to knock England out of the 1986 World Cup, including the so-called “Hand of God” goal, has sold for a record-breaking sum at auction pic.twitter.com /wxQY7Qpoov
— PA Dugout (@PAdugout) May 4, 2022
The sale broke the previous record for sporting goods held in the original manuscript of the Olympic manifesto in 1892, which was sold in 2019 for $8.8 million.
Maradona, who led Argentina to victory in the 1986 World Cup, is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time.
He died at the age of 60 in 2020 due to a heart attack.