Pele winners’ medal among auction World Cup items expected to fetch €2.32m

A collection of World Cup memorabilia, including Pele’s 1958 winners’ medal, is expected to fetch more than £2 million (€2.32 million) at auction.

The medal, awarded when the footballer was a teenager, is expected to bring in up to £500,000 (€579,000) alone.

It will go under the hammer this month alongside more than 450 lots including the jersey worn by goalkeeper Peter Shilton at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, and the shirt worn by Gordon Banks when he made his famous save against Pele in 1970.

The auction also features memorabilia from England’s 1966 World Cup victory, including Banks’ winners’ medal and Alan Ball’s shirt from the final.

Organised by sports memorabilia specialists BUDDS, the auction is expected to reach more than £2 million (€2.32 million) in total sales after receiving “strong interest” from collectors around the world.

David Convery, head of sporting memorabilia at BUDDS, said: “This is the largest collection of World Cup memorabilia ever offered at auction, and it is difficult to imagine many sales that could rival it in terms of historical significance.

“Individual items such as Pele’s World Cup winner’s medal, Gordon Banks’ shirt from the Save of the Century or Peter Shilton’s jersey from the Hand of God match would normally be headline attractions on their own.

“To see them all appearing in a single sale is extraordinarily rare.

“These are pieces of football history connected to moments that millions of people feel emotionally attached to, even if they weren’t born at the time – whether that’s the euphoria of 1966 or the agony of the Hand of God goal.

“Opportunities to acquire objects of this calibre and historical importance don’t come along very often.”

An online auction is running from June 1st