Maradona's 'Hand of God' match ball sells for $3.35 million

The ball used in Diego Maradona's iconic "Hand of God" match against England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup has sold at auction for $3.35 million, turning another piece of football history into a multimillion-dollar sports collectible.

The Adidas Azteca ball was used during the Argentina-England quarter-final in Mexico, where Argentina won 2-1. Dallas-based Heritage Auctions handled the sale.

The match remains one of the most famous in World Cup history, largely because of two extraordinary goals scored by Maradona within four minutes of each other.

For the opening goal, Maradona used his hand to beat England goalkeeper Peter Shilton to the ball and send it into the net. The officials failed to spot the handball and awarded the goal, which later became known as the "Hand of God."

Minutes later, Maradona produced an even more remarkable moment, dribbling past five England players from inside his own half before rounding Shilton and scoring. The goal was later voted FIFA’s "Goal of the Century."

Heritage Auctions said experts authenticated the ball by comparing it with photographs and other evidence from the match.

The ball had been kept for 36 years by Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, who officiated the quarter-final. He sold it at a London auction in 2022 for around £2 million.

Before the latest auction, the ball had been estimated to fetch more than $10 million. Its final price of $3.35 million therefore fell well short of that projection.

Another piece of memorabilia from the same match—the shirt worn by Maradona—was sold by Sotheby’s in 2022 for about $9.3 million.

Despite its historic significance, the ball did not set a record for sports memorabilia. Shohei Ohtani's 50th home-run ball sold for $4.392 million in 2024, while the overall record remains Babe Ruth’s 1932 World Series jersey, which fetched $24.12 million at Heritage Auctions that year.