Six of the shirts Lionel Messi wore during Argentina's historic 2022 World Cup campaign, including one from their victory over France in the final, sold for $7.8 million at auction on Thursday.
Three bids brought up the eventual selling price of $7.8m — a total including buyer's premium — at Sotheby's New York. — Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) The shirts that Messi wore in the first half of six of Argentina's matches in Qatar were brought to auction by tech startup AC Momento and have gone to an anonymous bidder.
Despite hopes that the lot would reach a record price, the total fell short of the highest price paid for a game-worn jersey at auction, which still stands at the $10.1m spent in September 2022 on Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 jersey.
That just edged the $9.28m for Diego Maradona's «Hand of God» Argentina jersey, which was sold in May 2022. The eventual price is the highest for sports memorabilia at auction this year and sets a record for Messi memorabilia.