A set of six Argentina shirts worn by Lionel Messi during the 2022 World Cup, including his match-worn final jersey, are anticipated to fetch over £8million in a charity auction hosted by Sotheby’s in New York. The collection includes shirts from the quarter-final, semi-final, and round-of-16 matches, as well as two of the three group-stage games. The estimated value of the set is $10m (£8m), which would break the current world record for sports memorabilia collection sales. The proceeds from the auction will be given to charity. In comparison, Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 holds the current record, selling for £8.1million in September 2020 at Sotheby’s New York. Kurt Cobain’s guitar, used during an MTV Unplugged performance in 1993, sold for £4.2m in 2020 and is the most expensive piece of music memorabilia.
Sotheby’s in New York is organizing an auction for Lionel Messi’s jersey worn during Argentina’s World Cup victory against France. Fans will have the opportunity to view the shirt before it goes under the hammer.
There are six Argentina shirts up for grabs in the current auction, and experts predict that this sale will break all previous records.
Last year in Qatar, the playmaker triumphantly lifted the trophy after winning against France 4-2 on penalties. Brahm Wachter, the head of modern collectibles at Sotheby’s, expressed that the 2022 FIFA World Cup is one of the most remarkable events in sports history. It is closely associated with Messi’s admirable journey, which confirms his position as the greatest football player of all time. The sale of Messi’s six shirts will be a momentous occasion in auction history, giving fans and collectors a chance to own a part of Messi’s monumental achievement. Sotheby’s is honored to display these invaluable collectibles that epitomize the pure brilliance of a player who has redefined the standards of football excellence. The previous record for Messi’s shirt is £360,000 from the 2017 El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona, in which he scored an injury-time winner at the Bernabeu. However, this collection is expected to fetch more than the £7.1 million an anonymous bidder paid for Diego Maradona’s Hand of God jersey from the 1986 World Cup quarter-final, setting a record for a football shirt. Steve Hodge, former England midfielder, had sold the jersey through Sotheby’s in London last year, which he had asked Maradona for in the tunnel after the game in Mexico City.
In the past, both Michael Jordan (on the left) and Kurt Cobain (on the right) have held impressive records for their memorabilia.
In the year 2022, a mysterious buyer shelled out £7.1 million for the jersey donned by Diego Maradona (pictured on the left) during his scandalous ‘Hand of God’ score against England in the 1986 World Cup match.
A certain percentage of the earnings generated from the auction will be donated to a charitable organization handpicked by the midfielder.
In Qatar, the 36-year-old football superstar, Lionel Messi, scored two of Argentina’s three goals in the World Cup final, which resulted in a thrilling 3-3 draw and ultimately led to his team winning the championship. The game is considered one of the most epic finals in history. Recently, AC Momento, a US-based start-up that specializes in sports fan apps, has partnered with Messi to auction off his match-worn memorabilia collection. Sotheby’s will exhibit the shirts as part of a public exhibition from 30 November to 14 December, during which bids can be placed. A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to the UNICAS Project, spearheaded by Sant Joan de Déu (SJD) Barcelona Children’s Hospital and supported by the Leo Messi Foundation, which aims to assist children with rare diseases. This initiative is a continuation of the Leo Messi Foundation’s collaboration with the SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital Pediatric Cancer Center, which serves 400 children with cancer annually.
