The football with which Argentina‘s Diego Maradona scored his “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup fell short of it’s valuation by almost £5 million ($6.8m).
The Adidas Azteca ball was auctioned off for $3.35m (£2.5m) at Heritage Auctions on Saturday evening but fell short of the $10m (£7.3m) estimate the Dallas-base firm attached to the item it considered “the most significant football.”
A starting price had been set at $2.5m (£1.8m).
Maradona scored both goals in Argentina’s 2-1 quarterfinal win against England, his opener known as the “Hand of God” goal where he palmed the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton.
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Maradona, who died in November 2020, said after the game that the goal was “a little from the head of Maradona, and a little with the hand of God.”
The Argentina captain then scored in the same game what would later be chosen as ‘Goal of the Century’ by FIFA, when Maradona picked up the ball on the halfway line, dribbled through the England team and dinked it over Shilton to give Argentina a 2-0 lead.
Tunisian Ali Bin Nasser, who refereed that match in 1986, collected the ball at full-time and kept it for more than three decades.
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In 2023, he signed a letter to confirm it was the only ball used during the match, which was also verified by further independent authentication.
Bin Nasser sold the ball in 2022 for $2.37m (£1.74m). 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.
The shirt worn by Maradona during the same match sold for a then world-record price of $9.28m (£7.1m) at an auction at Sotheby’s in London in 2022.
