The Adidas Azteca ball used by Diego Maradona during Argentina’s 2-1 victory over England in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinals sold for $3.35 million at Heritage Auctions, falling short of the Dallas-based auction house’s pre-sale estimate of up to $10 million, according to auction records and reporting from The Athletic.
The Lede and the Sale
The world’s most famous soccer ball has a new owner after changing hands at Heritage Auctions. Bidding for the historic leather sphere opened at $2.5 million and ultimately closed at $3.35 million on a Saturday night. While the price tag secured a massive sum for a piece of sporting history, it ran well behind the $10 million ceiling anticipated by auction officials, who had billed the item as potentially the most famous ball in the history of any sport.
Context of the 1986 World Cup Match
The ball carries an unmatched historical resume from Argentina’s stormy quarterfinal clash against England at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca on June 22, 1986. Played four years after the Falklandkrieg, the match was deeply charged with political tension. Within the span of four chaotic minutes in the second half, Maradona used the exact same ball to author two contrasting moments that forever defined modern soccer lore.
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In the 51st minute, Maradona leaped against England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and used his left hand to flick a loose ball over the defender’s outstretched arms and into the net. The infraction went completely unnoticed by Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, allowing the controversial goal to stand. Maradona later acknowledged that the ball should not have counted, famously dubbing the maneuver the “Hand of God.”
Just four minutes later, Maradona gathered a pass deep inside his own half and embarked on a dazzling 70-meter run. He eluded six English outfield players before slotting the ball past Shilton for what is universally remembered as the “Goal of the Century.” Argentina held on for a 2-1 victory and advanced toward capturing the country’s second World Cup title.
A Complicated Provenance and Market Comparison
For decades following the final whistle, the match ball remained in the possession of referee Ali Bin Nasser. The Tunisian official eventually parted with the item through Graham Budd Auctions in 2022, where it fetched £2 million (approximately $2.37 million). Another attempt to sell the ball in 2023 through Goldin Auctions stalled when a final bid of $2.04 million failed to clear an unlisted reserve price set by the seller.
Maradona’s match-worn jersey from the exact same fixture sold at Sotheby’s in 2022 for nearly $9.3 million. Furthermore, the soccer ball’s price tag sits lower than the $4.392 million fetched by the baseball used by Japanese star Shohei Ohtani for his historic 50th home run with the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 2024 Major League Baseball season, according to auction tracking.
Timing and the Collector Market
Industry observers pointed to the timing of the summer auction as a potential hurdle for the seller. The return of the ball to the open market coincided with heightened collector interest driven by the 2026 FIFA World Cup hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. However, because the auction concluded more than a month after the tournament ended—a summer campaign where defending champions Argentina and Lionel Messi suffered a dramatic 1-0 extra-time defeat to Spain in the final at MetLife Stadium—the immediate tournament fervor had cooled.
Heritage Auctions has not disclosed the identity of the winning bidder, leaving the future whereabouts of the storied Adidas Azteca ball private as it enters its next chapter away from the pitch.
