Maradona's 'Hand of God' armband from 1986 World Cup heads to auction

It's become a cliché to describe a collectable that's hard to find as a “holy grail”. You don't often read about something being an “unholy grail”. But if there was ever such a collectable up for sale – at least in the eyes of England fans – it's the captain's armband Diego Maradona was wearing when he punched the ball into the England net during the World Cup on 22 June 1986. That infamous “Hand of God” goal put Argentina 1-0 up early in the second half, and England went home at the end of the match – while Argentina went on to win the tournament. “A little with the head of Maradona, and a little with the hand of God,” was how Maradona cheekily put it after the whistle. The armband appears as part of “The Beautiful Game” sale, held by Sotheby's in New York, which runs until 16 July. The highest bid as of late last week was $100,000, with days to go.

A less controversial lot in the sale is the remarkably small number-ten shirt that a 17-year-old Pelé wore while scoring two goals against Sweden in the World Cup final in 1958, which Brazil won 5-2. Almost 70 years after that match, Pelé remains the youngest-ever player to appear in a World Cup final, and Sotheby's expects that shirt to sell for at least $6 million, according to The Guardian. That would make it the most expensive single item of football memorabilia sold at auction.

The current record holder? The Argentina shirt that Maradona was wearing while scoring with “divine assistance”. It sold for an eye-watering $9.3 million in 2022. And recently, Dallas-based Heritage Auctions revealed it will be selling the actual ball in August. That one defies valuation. As Heritage says, the sports collectables market has been booming.

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Japan's World Cup jersey sales soar

Football fever is apparent in other sales rooms, too. Sotheby's archrival Christie's is taking a decidedly left-field approach to celebrating the World Cup by selling five giant metallic football art installations, on 17 July, in New York. The works are currently on display across New York and New Jersey and a portion of the proceeds will go towards good causes.

Northamptonshire-based Budds (formerly Graham Budd Auctions) sold dozens of match-worn shirts from past tournaments this week, while more vintage tops can be found online with Dutch online auctioneer MatchWornShirt.

It might be worth keeping an eye out for one from Japan, as Eru Ishikawa notes on Bloomberg. Sales of this year's Japan away shirt have risen 29-fold compared with sales from the 2022 Qatar World Cup – and they have doubled for the home shirt – according to the manufacturer, Adidas. But good luck finding one. The adult replica shirts on the Adidas website in Japan, priced at ¥13,200 (£60) each, have sold out. Japan may already have been knocked out of this year's World Cup, but at least its fans will be left holding on to something longer lasting.

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