Maradona's Hand of God Ball Sells for £2.5m at Auction
Key Points
- The Adidas Azteca ball sold for $3.3m (£2.5m) at Heritage Auctions on Saturday, below the expected $10m valuation.
- Referee Ali Bin Nasser authenticated the ball and has confirmed it was the only ball used during Argentina's 2-1 quarter-final win over England in 1986.
- The same ball previously sold for $2.37m (£1.74m) in 2022 before being re-auctioned in 2023 without meeting the minimum reserve price.
This represents the second time the ball has been sold at auction. Bin Nasser initially sold it in 2022 for $2.37m (£1.74m) to its most recent owner, who first attempted to resell it at auction in 2023 but failed to meet the minimum reserve price before listing it again Saturday. The pricing trajectory shows demand cooling for the artifact despite its historical significance.
The sale comes roughly two years after Maradona's famous match-worn shirt from that same 1986 game sold for £7.1m at auction in 2022. Heritage Auctions specialist Mike Provenzale described the ball before the Saturday sale, stating it was "arguably the most significant soccer item that exists" and "a true one-of-one item." The disparity between the shirt's £7.1m price and the ball's £2.5m sale price—despite both being from the same iconic match—underscores how authentication challenges and shifting collector demand can affect valuations for competing artifacts from singular historical moments.
Sources: BBC Sport and other international news outlets.
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