Ball Diego Maradona tormented England with brings in £2m at auction

The ball Diego Maradona used to score his infamous 'Hand of God' ball has been sold at auction for £2m (€2.28m).

Argentina captain Maradona scored two unforgettable goals in the quarter-final of the 1986 World Cup to beat England at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Maradona controversially punched the opener beyond England goalkeeper Peter Shilton – which the referee allowed to stand – before scoring a superb individual effort, later voted Goal of the Century.

The Argentina playmaker, who died aged 60 in November 2020, claimed his contentious opening goal was scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God".

Gary Lineker, the 1986 Golden Boot winner, halved the deficit late on with his sixth goal of the tournament.

England, though, were knocked out of the tournament after losing 2-1, with Argentina going on to become world champions following victory over West Germany in the final.

Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, who took charge of the tie at the Estadio Azteca, owned the ball, which was sold by Graham Budd Auctions on Wednesday.

Maradona’s shirt from the match, which belonged to England midfielder Steve Hodge, fetched a record-breaking £7.1m at auction in May.

Auctioneer Budd, who specialises in sports memorabilia and based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, far exceeded his personal record sale – which was £420,000 for the Olympic torch from the 1952 Games in Helsinki.

Ahead of the auction, Bin Nasser said he felt it was the right time to share the item with the world and expressed hope the buyer would put it on public display.

Speaking of the handball goal, the Tunisian match official said: "I couldn’t see the incident clearly. The two players, Shilton and Maradona, were facing me from behind.

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