Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' ball from the 1986 World Cup match against England has sold at auction for £2.5 million. This was reported by infohub.kz.
In the quarter-final, Argentina beat England 2-1, with Maradona punching the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton. After the match, he told reporters it was scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God."
In the same game, Maradona scored what became known as the 'goal of the century', dribbling past five England players before slotting the ball home.
At Heritage Auctions in the United States on Saturday, the ball sold for $3.3 million (£2.5 million), though it had been expected to fetch around $10 million (£7.3 million).
Speaking to Reuters before the auction, Mike Provenzale, a specialist auctioneer at Heritage, said: "It's a true one-of-one item. Arguably the most significant soccer item that exists."
Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, who officiated the 1986 match, collected the Adidas Azteca ball at full-time and kept it for over thirty years. In 2023, he signed a letter confirming it was the only ball used during the match, which was also verified by independent authentication.
Bin Nasser sold the ball in 2022 for $2.37 million (£1.74 million). The new owner put it up for auction again in 2023, but it did not sell as bids did not meet the reserve price.
The shirt Maradona wore in that match sold for £7.1 million at auction in 2022.