Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ shirt sells for record £7.1m
THE SHIRT worn by Diego Maradona when he scored two momentous goals to knock England out of the 1986 World Cup, including the so-called “Hand of God” goal, has sold for a recordbreaking sum at auction.
The Argentinian, hailed as one of the greatest of all time, described his opening handball goal in the quarter-final as “a little with the head of Maradona, and a little with the hand of God”.
He then dribbled the ball past a host of England players to score again against goalkeeper Peter Shilton. That strike was later voted the “goal of the century”.
England midfielder Steve Hodge, who had unintentionally flicked the ball to Maradona in the Hand of God play, swapped shirts with his rival after the game and has owned it ever since.
The shirt, which has spent the last 20 years on loan at the National Football Museum in Manchester, went under the hammer at Sotheby’s for £7,142,500 – marking a new record for sports memorabilia.
The auction house described the famous number 10 jersey on its website as in “good overall condition consistent with heavy use, perspiration and athletic activity” with “slight de-threading on hemming on the front bottom of shirt.” Brahm Wachter, of Sotheby’s, said: “This historic shirt is a tangible reminder of an important moment not only in the history of sports, but in the history of the 20th century.”
The previous auction record for any sports memorabilia was the original autographed manuscript of the Olympic Manifesto from 1892, which sold at Sotheby’s for $8.8m in December 2019.