The football with which Diego Maradona scored his famous ‘hand of God’ goal at the 1986 World Cup has sold at auction for \u00a32.5m.<\/p>\n
Maradona famously punched the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton in Argentina’s 2-1 quarter-final win over England.<\/p>\n
After the game, he told reporters it had been scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.<\/p>\n
Maradona later scored what became known as the ‘goal of the century’ in the same game, dribbling past five England outfield players before slotting the ball past Shilton.<\/p>\n
Though it sold for $3.3m (\u00a32.5m) at Heritage Auctions in the United States on Saturday, the ball had been expected to fetch nearer $10m (\u00a37.3m).<\/p>\n
Speaking to Reuters before the auction, Mike Provenzale, a specialist auctioneer at Heritage, said: “It’s a true one-of-one item. Arguably the most significant soccer item that exists.”<\/p>\n
Tunisian Ali Bin Nasser, who refereed the match in 1986, collected the Adidas Azteca ball at full-time and kept it for more than three decades. <\/p>\n
In 2023, he signed a letter to confirm it was the only ball used during the match, which has also been confirmed by further independent authentication.<\/p>\n
Bin Nasser sold the ball in 2022 for $2.37m (\u00a31.74m). Its new owner again put it up for auction in 2023 though it did not sell as bids did not meet the minimum value set.<\/p>\n