Diego Maradonas Hand of God ball sells for $3.35 million at auction – The New York Times

The world’s most infamous soccer ball has a new owner.

The Adidas Azteca ball Diego Maradona used to score two of the most famous goals in soccer history during Argentina’s famous 2-1 victory over England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup sold for $3.35 million at Heritage Auctions on Saturday night. The result fell well short of the $10 million estimate Heritage attached to the ball. The bidding had opened at $2.5 million.

The Dallas-based auction house described the photo-matched ball as potentially “the most famous ball in the history” of any sport and had hoped it might become the most expensive piece of soccer memorabilia ever sold.

Before the auction, Heritage officials had suggested the ball could command a price comparable to Maradona’s shirt from the same game, which sold at Sotheby’s in 2022 for just under $9.3 million, setting what was then a record for sports memorabilia before a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6 million later that year. Now the record is held by a New York Yankees jersey worn by Babe Ruth during the 1932 World Series, which sold for $24.12 million through Heritage in 2024.

The “Hand of God” ball’s $3.35 million price tag is also lower than Shohei Ohtani’s 50th home run ball from his historic 2024 season, which sold for $4.392 million at auction, a record for a ball of any kind. That ball, which made Ohtani the first player in MLB history to reach 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season, surpassed the previous record of $3 million paid for Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball from 1998.

Still, it is difficult to imagine one ball having a better resume than the “Hand of God” ball.

In the space of four minutes at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca on June 22, 1986, Maradona used the same ball to score the notorious “Hand of God” goal and the brilliant “Goal of the Century.”

Six minutes into the second half, Maradona beat England goalkeeper Peter Shilton to a loose ball, using his left hand to knock it into the net. The hand ball went unnoticed by Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, and the goal stood. Four minutes later, Maradona delivered another memorable goal when he collected the ball inside his own half and tore through England’s defense on a dazzling 70-meter run, beating six players before sending it back of England’s net. Argentina won 2-1, and Maradona went on to captain his country to its second World Cup title. He later acknowledged that the first goal should never have counted, but by then the “Hand of God” had become one of football’s most enduring pieces of folklore.

The ball also has a complicated auction history. For decades it belonged to Bin Nasser, who sold it through Graham Budd Auctions in 2022 for $2.37 million. In 2023, the ball was put up for sale again and received a final bid of $2.04 million through Goldin Auctions, but it didn’t sell because it failed to reach an unlisted reserve price (a minimum value set by the seller that bidding needs to reach for the sale to be authorized).

Its return to the market this summer came at an opportune moment, given the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico increased interest in soccer collectibles among collectors in America, where sports memorabilia commands its biggest values.

But perhaps the timing of the auction, with its conclusion more than a month after the tournament ended, worked against the seller.

Argentina’s race for a second consecutive World Cup title ended painfully this summer, with Spain beating Lionel Messi and the defending champions 1-0 after extra time in the final at MetLife Stadium. The defeat was followed by an ugly postgame brawl that ran counter to the positive vibes Argentina generated in 2022 and has since brought significant punishment. FIFA handed Leandro Paredes a 10-match suspension and Nahuel Molina a seven-game ban, with each fined $90,000; Thiago Almada received a one-match ban and a $30,000 fine. Argentina’s federation was separately fined $321,000 for multiple disciplinary breaches during the tournament and ordered to play its next two home games at reduced capacity.

Despite the negative headlines that came out of the 2026 World Cup final, for 40 million Argentines, the “Hand of God” ball is priceless.

The market decided it was worth $3.35 million.

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