The Argentina shirt that Diego Maradona wore when he scored his iconic ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in the 1986 World Cup will be auctioned off.
Former England midfielder Steve Hodge owns the classic blue away shirt, which is set to sell for more than £4 million.
In that game, Maradona also scored one of the best World Cup goals on route to winning the title.
Hodge stated that the shirt would not be sold after Maradona’s death in November 2020.
In December of that year, Hodge claimed that “people were banging on my door continually” and that claims that he was attempting to sell the shirt were false. “I believe it’s disrespectful and completely improper,” he said at the time. There isn’t a way to buy it. “I’m not going to try to resell it.”
Hodge, a 59-year-old midfielder who got 24 caps for England and played in two World Cups for the Three Lions, has worn the shirt since swapping it with Maradona in the tunnel following Argentina’s 2-1 quarter-final triumph in 1986.
Hodge had donated the shirt to the National Football Museum for 20 years, but it will now be auctioned from April 20 to May 4 at Sotheby’s in London, with bidding open from April 20 to May 4.
Babe Ruth’s baseball jersey from the New York Yankees set the current record for a game shirt when it sold for $5.6 million (£4.4 million) in 2019.
Maradona is widely recognised as one of the greatest footballers of all time, having helped Argentina win the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
He played for Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Sevilla, and Newell’s Old Boys during his sparkling club career, but it was with Napoli between 1984 and 1991 that he cemented his reputation as the best player of his generation.
He guided them to their first and second Serie A titles, as well as the Uefa Cup, Coppa Italia, and Italian Super Cup, in 1986-87 and 1989-90, respectively.
