Nine months after the jersey Diego Maradona was wearing when he scored the most famous goals of his legendary career sold for over $9 million, the infamous “Hand of God” ball from the 1986 World Cup is now up for sale.
The ball is among the top items in Goldin’s January Sports Elite Auction. Bidding stood at $700,000 on Tuesday.
One of the most famous goals in the history of the sport, Maradona’s controversial handball ignited an uproar and paved the way for La Albiceleste’s second-ever World Cup victory. The late superstar one said the goal was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.”.
In the same game, Maradona weaved through traffic to score soccer’s “Goal of the Century.” The ball was also used on that famous play.
The ball was offered by an English auction house last fall, but did not meet the reserve price despite reaching a bid of over $2 million.
Since the end of the famous match, the ball has been owned by Ali Bennaceur, who officiated the match that day. According to the letter of provenance from Bennaceur that accompanies the ball, one of the instructions given to the referees of the tournament by FIFA, “any central referee who directs an official World Cup match and at the end of the match keeps and becomes the sole and exclusive owner of the ball.”
No other balls were used during the match.
The jersey Maradona wore that day fetched $9.3 million at auction and the ball is expected to bring a strong seven-figure price as well.
The auction features more than 620 items in all including:
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2002-03 Kobe Bryant Upper Deck NBA Logo Mania: The first 1/1 “Logoman” NBA game-used patch card of Kobe Bryant.
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2003-04 LeBron James Topps Chrome Gold Refractor Rookie Card (#02/50) PSA GEM MT 10: One of nine copies at the 10 tier.
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Dec. 5, 2022 – Tom Brady Game-Used, Photo-Matched, Signed, Inscribed Buccaneers Jersey: The jersey dates to the game in which Brady led his team to an NFL record 44th fourth quarter comeback win.
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1980-81 Topps Larry Bird/Magic Johnson Rookie Card: BGS 10 (pop 2).
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1999-00 Michael Jordan Upper Deck Retro Signed Card (#15/20) PSA 10: Hand serial-numbered “15/23” (1 of 2 graded 10 by PSA)
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2008 Ray Allen Game-Used, Photo Matched NBA Finals Game 3 Celtics Jersey: Allen wore the jersey as he helped bring the Boston Celtics their 17th NBA Title, scoring a team-high of 25 points.
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2014 LeBron James Game-Used, Photo-Matched “KING JAMES” Miami Heat Jersey: James scored a game high 36 points in the “KING JAMES” inscribed jersey while facing off against the Brooklyn Nets.
“Our New Year’s resolution at Goldin is to offer collectors more exceptional items than ever before,” said Goldin Executive Chairman and Founder Ken Goldin. “Whether you’ve been collecting your whole life, or you’re buying your first trading card, this is the year to get involved in the hobby.”
The January Elite auction is open through February 8.
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