Maradona’s Golden Ball to live up to its name

Diego Maradona’s Golden Ball trophy for being named the best player at the 1986 Fifa World Cup will be auctioned in France in June, the Aguttes auction house said this week. This is the first Golden Ball to go on auction and the auction house expects it to fetch millions on June 6.

Maradona, who died in 2020, won the award after leading Argentina to World Cup victory in Mexico, scoring five goals at the finals where he captained his country and played every minute of the tournament.

That tournament is probably best remembered for Maradona’s two goals against England in the quarterfinals. He outjumped England keeper Peter Shilton and thumped in the first goal with a raised fist. He said the goal was scored by the “Hand of God”.

The second was an incredible mazy slalom run from his own half, when he dribbled past five English outfield players, and was voted as the “Goal of the Century”.

The jersey he wore that day, along with the ball from the match, have previously been sold at auction. After his display against England, Maradona went on to score the two goals which defeated Belgium in the semifinal and Argentina won the final 3-2 against West Germany.

The Golden Ball award was introduced at the 1982 World Cup, and its list of winners include Italy’s Paolo Rossi, Romario and Ronaldo of Brazil, Zinedine Zidane of France, while Argentine great Lionel Messi is the only player to have won the accolade twice.

Maradona’s award had disappeared before resurfacing among several trophy lots in an auction room.

Recently it was entrusted to Aguttes, which carried out an investigation into its provenance and managed to authenticate it as Maradona’s Adidas Golden Ball trophy.