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The most famous ball in soccer history is about to roll across the block.
Heritage Auctions is auctioning off the Adidas Azteca with which Diego Maradona scored his two historic goals in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal this August.
During the match, the then-25-year-old Argentine striker notched two of the sport’s most memorable goals within just four minutes to secure a victory against England.
The first came in the 51st minute following a scoreless first half. Maradona received the ball from Julio Olarticochea, dribbled past two English defenders, and attempted to pass to Jorge Valdano, but the ball was hit back toward Maradona, who, at 5-foot-5, managed to outjump 6-foot-1 English goalkeeper Peter Shilton and punch it into the back of the net. The English squad immediately asked officials to discount the goal as Maradona had scored it with his left hand, not his head. But as referee Ali Ben Nasser and linesman Bogdan Dochev both missed the infraction and there was no video referee, the goal stood.
“The English felt that their team, a squad that had legitimate hopes of winning the World Cup that year, had been robbed. . . .and their reaction, whether accurate or not, was understandable,” Chris Ivy, Heritage’s Director of Sports Auctions, said in a statement. “Their disappointment was legitimate, but it does nothing to take away from two of the most spectacular goals in the history of the sport.”
After the game, Maradona told the media that the goal was “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.” It has since been labelled the “Hand of God” goal and remains one of the most controversial yet incredible moments in all of soccer.
Four minutes after he put Argentina on the board, Maradona went on to score what FIFA later deemed the “Goal of the Century.” He received a pass a few yards behind the midfield line, weaved past five English players in a speedy 60-yard sprint to the goal, then smashed the ball past Shilton into the back of the net. That secured Argentina a place in the semifinal against Belgium, which it won before finally defeating West Germany in the final to win the entire World Cup.
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After the Argentina-England match, the ball was passed onto Ben Nasser. In a signed letter of provenance from 2023, the referee states that it was used throughout the whole quarterfinal and was in play for both the Hand of God goal and the Goal of the Century. He also explains that FIFA protocol granted the ref ownership of the match ball and that he had fellow match officials sign it. The ball stayed with Ben Nasser for three decades before he auctioned it at Graham Budd Auctions in 2022. It hammered down for 2 million pounds (approximately $2.4 million).
The ball will be offered during Heritage’s Summer Platinum Night Sports Auction on August 22. The auction house expects it will sell for $10 million or more. That doesn’t seem like such a reach, given the jersey Maradona wore in the same match sold for $9.3 million in 2022.
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- Rachel Cormack Digital Editor Rachel Cormack is a digital editor at Robb Report. She cut her teeth writing for HuffPost, Concrete Playground, and several other online publications in Australia, before moving to New York at the… Read More
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Source: Robb Report
