Diego Maradona's Hand of God ball sells for $3.3 million
The soccer ball from Diego Maradona's infamous Hand of God goal sold for $3.35 million at Heritage Auctions in Texas, well below its $10 million estimate. For collectors chasing diego maradonas hand god memorabilia, the Adidas Azteca ball finally cleared after two prior auction flops.
Key Takeaways
- The ball fetched $3.35 million at Heritage Auctions in Texas, far under a $10 million presale estimate.
- It is the Adidas Azteca used when Maradona scored against England in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal at Azteca Stadium.
- Referee Ali Ben Nasser kept the ball for 36 years; it failed to sell at auction in 2022 and again in 2023.
- Heritage said photo matching tied the ball to both of Maradona's goals in that match.
- The result trails Maradona's shirt from the same game ($9.3 million in 2022) and Shohei Ohtani's 50th home-run ball ($4.39 million).
How much did Diego Maradona's Hand of God ball sell for?
Heritage Auctions sold the ball for $3.35 million. That price landed well below the lot's $10 million estimate, according to Robb Report.
Heritage auctioneer Mike Provenzale had called it "a true one-of-a-kind item" and "arguably the most significant soccer item that exists," speaking to Reuters before the sale.
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Why is the Hand of God soccer ball so famous?
In the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal in Mexico City, Maradona scored against England in what first looked like a header. Slow-motion replays showed the Argentine striker using his hand to punch the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton. The referee did not call a foul.
After the match, Maradona told reporters the goal was scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God." Four minutes later he scored again with a solo run later voted the FIFA World Cup Goal of the Century.
Tunisian referee Ali Ben Nasser has said he could not clearly see the handball because Maradona and Shilton were facing away from him. The 1986 quarterfinal remains one of the most significant World Cup matches, coming four years after the Falklands War between Argentina and the UK.
Had the ball been offered at auction before?
Yes. Ben Nasser kept the Adidas Azteca ball for 36 years before it was first offered at auction in 2022. Bidding reached £2 million ($2.37 million), but the reserve was not met and the ball later sold to a private buyer.
It returned to auction at Goldin in February 2023 and again went unsold. Heritage said authenticity was established independently through photographic evidence. Experts compared marks and other details on the ball with photographs from the England match and other Adidas Azteca balls from the 1986 World Cup, matching it to images from both of Maradona's goals.
Provenzale told the Athletic that when the ball arrived it was the kind of item that "shut down the whole department," and that photo matching to both goals was "the cherry on top."
How does this sale compare with other sports memorabilia?
The ball's $3.35 million result sits well below the $9.3 million paid for Maradona's shirt from the same match at Sotheby's in 2022, then a sports memorabilia record. It also fell short of the most expensive sports ball on record: Shohei Ohtani's 50th home-run ball from his 2024 MLB season, which sold for $4.39 million including buyer's premium.
Even so, the Hand of God ball remains among the most storied pieces of soccer history to reach the open market—an iconic object whose auction path finally produced a public sale after years of near misses.