The Golden Ball is in the style of the ‘Azteca’ match ball used in the 1986 World Cup.
Image copyright: Aguttes/Yann Vernerie
Diego Maradona’s Golden Ball from the 1986 World Cup is to appear at the Aguttes auction house in Paris on June 6.
Awarded to the Argentina captain after being named player of the tournament, the Golden Ball is the first of its kind to appear at auction. It famously disappeared before resurfacing and investigated by Aguttes for provenance.
This particular Golden Ball is in the branding of Adidas’s ‘Azteca’ match ball used in the 1986 World Cup and was awarded to the Argentina icon after captaining his country to its second World Cup.
Its disappearance gave rise to numerous rumours about its whereabouts, from speculation that the mafia stole it from a Naples bank to the award being lost in a game of poker. Neither of Maradona’s autobiographies mentioned the trophy.
Maradona with the award in Paris, 1986.
Copyright: Presse Sports
Maradona (1960-2020) featured in every Argentina game at that summer’s World Cup, shining in their wins against West Germany in the final, Belgium in the semi-final and England in the quarter-finals, the infamous ‘hand of God’ game during which he scored a goal voted as the goal of the century.
The shirt he wore that game fetched £7.1m at auction in 2022 while the match ball was bid to £2m but failed to meet the reserve price.
Aguttes expects this sale to achieve similar numbers but is yet to release an estimate.
