One of football’s most notorious pieces of history has changed hands again. The ball used when Diego Maradona scored both the “Hand of God” goal and his celebrated solo strike against England at the 1986 World Cup has sold for $3.35 million at auction.
The figure is enormous for a football. It is also nowhere near the expectation placed on the lot before bidding began. Heritage Auctions had valued the historic Adidas Azteca at more than $10 million, with bidding opening at $2.5 million. The market stopped at $3.35 million.
That gives the sale an unusual double edge: another multi-million-dollar price for Maradona memorabilia, but a dramatic miss against the valuation attached to one of the most recognisable objects in football history.
One ball, two moments that changed football history
The ball comes from Argentina’s 2-1 World Cup quarter-final victory over England at the Estadio Azteca on June 22, 1986. Maradona opened the scoring early in the second half when he used his hand to beat England goalkeeper Peter Shilton to the ball. The infringement was missed by the officials.
Four minutes later came something completely different. Maradona collected possession, drove through England’s defence and scored the spectacular individual goal later celebrated as the “Goal of the Century.”
Gary Lineker pulled one back for England, but Argentina survived and later went on to win the World Cup. Few pieces of sporting memorabilia carry two moments with such contrasting reputations. One remains one of football’s most infamous acts of deception. The other is still celebrated as one of the greatest goals ever scored.
Both happened with the same ball.
The $10m target disappears
That history drove the ambition behind the latest auction. Heritage Auctions had placed a $10 million-plus pre-sale estimate on the ball and presented it as one of the most significant football items available to collectors.
It did not reach that level. The eventual $3.35 million sale price leaves another Maradona relic from the same match far ahead in market value. The shirt worn by Maradona against England sold for around $9.3 million in 2022.
The ball itself had also been tested at auction before. At a 2022 sale, it attracted a £2 million bid but failed to meet its reserve, meaning the transaction was not completed.
This time, it sold. Just not at the price many expected.
Maradona history still commands millions
Missing the $10 million target does not make the result insignificant. A $3.35 million sale still places the ball firmly inside the elite end of football memorabilia.
Its story also extends beyond Maradona. The ball was associated for decades with Ali Bin Nasser, the Tunisian referee who officiated Argentina’s quarter-final against England and failed to spot the handball.
That gives the object a strange place in football history. It is not merely connected to Maradona.
It is connected to the referee, the controversy, the World Cup, England’s anger and Argentina’s eventual triumph. That combination helps explain why an ordinary-looking football can command millions four decades after the match ended.
The price changed. The argument never did.
Forty years after Mexico 1986, the “Hand of God” still divides football conversation. For Argentina, it sits inside the mythology of the tournament Maradona dominated.
For England, it remains attached to one of the sport’s most painful refereeing controversies. For collectors, it now carries another number:
$3.35 million.
The auction did not deliver the $10 million spectacle expected before the sale.
But the ball did what it has done since 1986. It made football look again.
Cranse Sports
News For Fans Who Read The Game
