The Adidas Azteca ball used by Diego Armando Maradona for his two goals against England in the 1986 Mexico World Cup was sold for 3.35 million dollars at an auction organized by Heritage Auctions in Dallas
The amount made the ball one of the most valuable sports items in history, although it fell short of initial expectations. The prior estimate had reached 10 million dollars, while the opening bid was set at 2.5 million
Additionally, the final amount was considerably below the price reached by another relic from that match: the jersey Maradona wore against England was auctioned in 2022 for approximately 9.3 million dollars
The ball Maradona used against England
The historical significance of the ball is directly related to one of Maradona's most remembered performances with the Argentine National Team
The match ended 2-1 in favor of Argentina in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup. Six minutes into the second half, Maradona opened the scoring with the famous play known as the "Hand of God"
Official document of the ball
Four minutes later came the second goal, later considered the "Goal of the Century". The Argentine captain covered approximately 70 meters, surpassed six English players, and scored against Peter Shilton
The victory allowed Argentina to advance to the semi-finals and subsequently win its second World Cup title. In 2002, a survey organized by FIFA chose that extraordinary play by Maradona as the best goal in World Cup history
The story behind the auctioned ball
The ball came with documentation intended to support its authenticity, as well as photographs and a letter signed by Ali Bennaceur, the Tunisian referee who officiated that historic match
Bennaceur kept the ball for over three decades in Tunisia before making it available to the sports memorabilia market
