The outrageous amount of money the Diego Maradona Hand of God ball has sold for

The football with which Diego Maradona scored his famous Hand of God goal has just sold for a massive price at auction.

On June 22, 1986, the legend controversially scored past Peter Shilton in the quarter-final of the FIFA World Cup to render England fans heartbroken.

Diego Maradona Hand Of God football sells for £2.5 million

After bagging one of the most divisive goals in football history, Diego Maradona told reporters he’d scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.”

Later in the match, the Argentine left several defenders in the dust to secure one of the greatest finishes the sport has ever seen.

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Following the match, referee Al Bin Nasser kept the Azteca ball for himself and held onto it for more than three decades. In 2023, he finally made the decision to part with his prized possession. He signed a letter confirming that it was the only ball used in the game, a claim which was confirmed by further independent authentication. He subsequently sold the ball for $2.37M (£1.74M).

History repeated itself, with the new owner then attempting to sell it in 2023. However, none of the bids at the auction met the minimum asking price.

But on Saturday, it did find a new home, with the ball going for $3.3M (£2.5M) at Heritage Auctions in the United States. Although, this amount was significantly lower than the expected price of just shy of $10M (7.3M).

Prior to the sale, specialist auctioneer Mike Provenzale told Reuters: “It’s a true one-of-one item. Arguably the most significant soccer item that exists.”