Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” jersey from 1986 World Cup poised to fetch record sum at auction

It was the best moment, or the worst moment, in the history of football, and now sports fans with deep pockets can have a part of it.

The shirt worn by Diego Maradona when he scored the controversial goal of the “Hand of God” against England at the 1986 World Cup is on sale for the first time. Sotheby’s auction he said Wednesday that the t-shirt could raise more than $ 5.2 million in an online auction that will open on April 20th.

Brahm Wachter, head of Sotheby’s streetwear and modern collectibles, said the shirt was “on a small list of the world’s most important sporting memorabilia.”

“I’ll never handle anything so good again,” Wachter said. “The moment is iconic in the history of the sport.”

Maradona scored two goals in the quarterfinals in Mexico City on June 22, 1986, just four years after Britain and Argentina had fought in a war in the Falkland Islands. The first goal of the great Argentine was sentenced from the head, but the ball had bounced in the fist of Maradona, out of sight of the referee.

Maradona later said he had written down “a little with Maradona’s head, and a little with God’s hand.”

Maradona’s second goal saw him haggle over almost the entire English team before beating goalkeeper Peter Shilton. In 2002, he was voted “the goal of the century” in a FIFA poll.

Wachter said the two goals are “brilliantly balanced” and reveal two facets of Maradona’s character.

The first “was very cunning and involved an element of luck,” he said. “But then he scored a second goal, which was one of the most incredible, almost angelic, goals in history.”

Argentina won the match 2-1 and won the World Cup. Maradona, considered by many to be the best player of all time, fought against cocaine abuse and other excesses and died in November 2020 at the age of 60.

After the match, Maradona exchanged the shirt with England midfielder Steve Hodge, who has never sold it before. For the past 20 years, he has been on loan at the National Football Museum of England in Manchester.

In an interview with FIFA, Hodge recalled: “I thought I would never be here again. I would try to get a T-shirt … I shook Maradona’s hand. there is a point, leave it “.

Hodge then had a second meeting with Maradona, according to Sotheby’s.

“After the interview, I went downstairs, behind the goal, to the locker room,” Hodge said. “As he was coming down, Maradona was walking with two of his classmates. he exchanged t-shirts. And that was it. It was as simple as that. “

The blue shirt with lighter blue stripes was a unique one, hastily assembled because the shirts that the Argentine team had planned to wear were considered too heavy for the heat of Mexico City. The pieces of the Argentine Football Association were sewn together and bright numbers were ironed on the back, including Maradona’s 10, shortly before the match.

Hodge said he had been a “proud owner” of a shirt that “has a profound cultural significance for the world of football, the people of Argentina and the people of England.” According to Wachter, Hodge had decided “this is the right time” to sell.

Sports souvenir prices have skyrocketed in recent years. The T-shirt could break a record for a piece of sportswear, held by a New York Yankees Babe Ruth T-shirt that sold for $ 5.64 million in 2019. A buyer paid $ 8.8 million by the manifesto launched by the modern Olympic movement, a record for a sporting article. .

The T-shirt will be on display at Sotheby’s in London during the bidding period from 20 April to 4 May.

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