The ball with which Diego Maradona scored two of the most famous goals in football history at the 1986 World Cup will be auctioned.
The seller is former Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, who officiated the World Cup quarter-finals between England and Argentina – and gave the controversial first goal to Maradona, known as the “Hand of God”.
Maradona maneuvered the ball into the goal by hand. In the game, which Argentina won 2-1, the football idol, who died in 2020, also scored the so-called goal of the century, in which he dribbled out several English players and pushed the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton into the goal.
Unlike today, the same ball was used for the entire 90 minutes. It will be auctioned off on November 16 as part of a special World Cup event that will be broadcast live on the internet. Interested parties can place their bids online until October 28th. Its value at auction is estimated at the equivalent of 2.9 to 3.5 million euros (2.5 to 3 million pounds).
The shirt worn by Maradona during the legendary World Cup game was auctioned off in May for a record sum of 8.4 million euros ($9.3 million). In September, the record price for a garment worn to a sporting event was surpassed when basketball star Michael Jordan sold an NBA Finals jersey for €9.1 million ($10.1 million).