The football with which Diego Maradona scored his famous “Hand of God” goal against England at the 1986 World Cup has sold for £2.5m at auction.
Maradona struck twice in a 2-0 quarter-final win in Mexico City 40 years ago, the first via his hand after beating English goalkeeper Peter Shilton to a ball in the box.
The Argentina captain added another, sublime solo goal soon afterwards as his side went on to secure World Cup glory.
The ball sold for $3.3m (£2.5m) at Heritage Auctions in the United States on Saturday – though fell short of an expectation that it might command a figure of around $10m (£7.3m).
Tunisian Ali Bin Nasser, who refereed the match in 1986, collected the Adidas Azteca ball at full-time and kept it for more than three decades before selling it at auction in 2022 for $2.37m (£1.74m).
It was again listed at auction a year later, but did not sell as bids failed to match the minimum value.
Bin Nasser failed to spot Maradona’s misdeed, allowing the goal to stand and Argentina to progress. The No 10 told reporters after the game that it had been scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.
