Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' ball sold for £2.5m

The football used by Diego Maradona to score his infamous 'Hand of God' goal during the 1986 World Cup quarter-final has been sold at auction for £2.5m.

In the historic match against England, Maradona punched the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton to open the scoring. After the game, the Argentine icon famously described the goal as having been scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God." Later in the same game, he scored his second, widely regarded as the 'goal of the century', after dribbling past five England players.

The sale took place at Heritage Auctions in the United States. While the final price was significant, it fell short of some optimistic pre-auction estimates that suggested the item could reach up to £7.3m.

The Adidas Azteca ball was held for over three decades by the match referee, Ali Bin Nasser, who confirmed it was the only ball used during the game. After selling it for £1.74m in 2022, the ball returned to auction in 2023 but failed to meet its reserve price, making this latest sale a notable conclusion to its recent market journey.