Forty years on: the ball from Maradona's goal against England sold for millions
A ball that made controversial history
The ball with which the late Argentine legend Diego Maradona scored his famous "Hand of God" goal against England during the 1986 World Cup has sold at a public auction in the United States for 2.5 million pounds sterling.
Heritage Auctions ran the sale, where the ball fetched 3.3 million dollars, roughly 2.5 million pounds sterling. That figure fell well short of expectations. Many had believed the value could approach 10 million dollars, around 7.3 million pounds sterling.
Its significance traces back to the clash between Argentina and England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup, held at the Azteca Stadium in the Mexican capital and won 2-1 by Argentina.
One of the most controversial moments in football history came during that match. Maradona scored the first goal after touching the ball with his hand before it went past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton, yet the Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser awarded the goal despite protests from the England players.
Maradona described the goal afterwards with his famous phrase, saying it came "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God". The words stuck, and the goal has been known ever since as the "Hand of God goal".
His historic moments in the match did not stop there. A few minutes later he scored Argentina's second goal in extraordinary fashion, setting off with the ball from the middle of the pitch, dribbling past five England players, then rounding Shilton and finding the net.
That second goal became known as the "Goal of the Century", widely regarded as one of the greatest in the history of the World Cup and of football itself.
Ali Bin Nasser had kept the ball after the final whistle, and it stayed in his possession for more than three decades. He sold it for the first time in 2022 for 2.37 million dollars, around 1.74 million pounds sterling.
Owners put the ball up for sale again at an auction in 2023, but the sale collapsed when the offers failed to reach the minimum price the owner had set.
That same year, Bin Nasser signed a letter confirming the Adidas Azteca ball was the only one used during the match, a claim later backed by independent verifications of its authenticity.
Heritage Auctions had billed the ball as a one-of-a-kind item, given its link to two of the most famous goals in World Cup history. It carried both of Maradona's goals in that historic clash.
Mike Provenzale, an auction specialist at Heritage Auctions, said before the sale that the ball represents an exceptional piece of football history, calling it perhaps the most important piece of memorabilia the game has ever seen, according to "BBC Sport".
For all its value, the ball did not come close to the record set by the shirt Maradona wore in the same match. That shirt sold in 2022 for 7.1 million pounds sterling, one of the most expensive football items ever sold at public auction.
Argentina pressed on in the 1986 World Cup after beating England, going on to be crowned world champions for the second time in their history with a 3-2 victory over West Germany in the final.
The ball tied to one of the most controversial goals in World Cup history has now become a fresh piece of Maradona's legacy, changing hands at a public auction for 2.5 million pounds sterling.
