Maradona's 'Hand of God' football sells for $4.19 million

The ball that Argentine footballer Diego Maradona used to score his controversial “Hand of God” goal against England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-final was sold at an auction on Aug 22 for US$3.3 million (S$4.19 million).

The winning bid fell short of the US$10 million estimate that US-based Heritage Auctions house attached to what it called “the most significant football”.

Bidding for the ball, which went down in sporting history after Maradona famously punched it past English goalkeeper Peter Shilton in Argentina’s 2-1 quarter-final win, opened at US$2.5 million.

Mike Provenzale, a specialist auctioneer at Heritage, told Reuters before the auction that the Adidas Azteca ball was “a true one-of-one item. Arguably, the most significant soccer item that exists”.

After the historic game, the Argentinian star – who died in November 2020 – said his goal was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.

The goal was allowed to stand because neither referee Ali Bin Nasser nor his assistant on the touchline saw the handball on the field.

The spheroid was also used by Maradona to score the so-called Goal of the Century, where he dribbled past several English defenders to score the second and altogether less controversial of the two goals against the Three Lions in the same match.

Tunisian referee Nasser collected the ball at full time and kept it for more than 30 years before selling it for US$2.37 million in 2022.

The BBC reported that the ball’s new owner put it up for auction in 2023 but it was not sold as the bids did not meet the minimum value set.

Argentina won the 1986 World Cup, beating West Germany 3-2 in the final .

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