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Maradona’s 1986 World Cup ball sells for $3.3 million

8/24/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Diego Maradona’s 1986 World Cup ball sold for £2.5 million at a U.S. auction.
Heritage Auctions sold the ball for $3.3 million, well under its $10 million estimate.
Referee Ali Bin Nasser kept the Adidas Azteca ball for over three decades before selling it for $2.37 million in 2022.
In 2023 Nasser signed a letter confirming the ball was the sole match ball, later authenticated independently.

History

Historical Context

In 2004 Sotheby's auctioned Babe Ruth’s 1920 game-used bat for $1.265 million, a record for sports memorabilia. The trend continued when Heritage Auctions sold Diego Maradona’s 1986 World Cup ball for £2.5 million in 2023 after authentication. These sales show how provenance drives premium prices for historic sports artifacts among collectors worldwide today.

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Story summary

Diego Maradona’s 1986 World Cup ball sold for £2.5 million at a U.S. auction.
Heritage Auctions sold the ball for $3.3 million, well under its $10 million estimate.
Referee Ali Bin Nasser kept the Adidas Azteca ball for over three decades before selling it for $2.37 million in 2022.
In 2023 Nasser signed a letter confirming the ball was the sole match ball, later authenticated independently.

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