Lionel Messi’s World Cup match shirts – including the kit he started iconic final against France in – set to sell for £8MILLION at auction… and it could overtake Michael Jordan for the memorabilia world record
- The 36-year-old scored two of Argentina’s three goals in their blockbuster final
- The auction will be held in New York, where fans can see the shirts before the sale
- England will struggle to win a trophy with Kalvin Phillips It all starts
Lionel Messi’s match-worn World Cup final shirt is part of a collection of his Argentina shirts to be auctioned for an expected world record sale of more than £8 million.
Six tops from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar – in which Argentina beat France on penalties to lift the trophy – are being auctioned as a set by Sotheby’s in New York, with part of the proceeds going to charity.
The shirts are from the first half of the final, the semi-final against Croatia, the quarter-final against the Netherlands, and the round of 16 match against Australia, and two of the three group stage matches, with an estimated price of at least $10 million (£ 8 million). That would make it a record for a “sports memorabilia collection.”
The current record for a piece of sports memorabilia is Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 – of the famous ‘Last Dance’ season – which sold for £8.1 million at Sotheby’s New in September last year York.
By comparison, the most expensive piece of music memorabilia is Kurt Cobain’s guitar that he used during an MTV Unplugged performance in 1993, just five months before he died. That sold in 2020 for £4.2 million.
Lionel Messi’s shirt from Argentina’s World Cup-winning final against France is to be auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York – where fans can see the shirts before the sale
The shirt is one of six Argentina shirts included in the auction, which will break records
The playmaker lifted the trophy in Qatar last year after beating France 4-2 on penalties
Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, said: ‘The 2022 FIFA World Cup ranks as one of the greatest events in sporting history, intrinsically linked to Messi’s brave journey and firmly cementing his status as the greatest player of all time.
“The sale of these six shirts is a monumental event in auction history and offers fans and collectors a connection to Messi’s crowning achievement. It is an honor for Sotheby’s to present and exhibit to the public these valuable collectibles, which embody the sheer genius of a player who redefined the boundaries of football excellence.”
The current record for one of Messi’s jerseys, £360,000, comes from the 2017 El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona, in which he scored an injury-time winner at the Bernabeu.
However, this collection will fetch even 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, a record for a football shirt. It was sold last year at Sotheby’s in London by former England midfielder Steve Hodge, who had asked Maradona for the jersey in the tunnel after the match in Mexico City.
Michael Jordan (left) and Kurt Cobain (right) have boasted previous memorabilia records
In 2022, an anonymous bidder paid £7.1 million for the shirt worn by Diego Maradona (left) when he scored the infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England in their 1986 World Cup match
Part of the profits made during the auction will go to a charity of the midfielder’s choice
The 36-year-old scored two of Argentina’s three goals before the match went to penalties
Messi scored twice in the final in Qatar and went on to win the World Cup at the fifth attempt. The match, a 3-3 draw, is considered one of the best finals ever.
Sotheby’s said: ‘The shirts are being auctioned by US tech startup AC Momento, which in addition to their mobile app for sports fans, also works with high-profile athletes (such as Messi) to help manage their collections of match-worn memorabilia. .
‘Part of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to the UNICAS project, led by the Sant Joan de Déu (SJD) Children’s Hospital of Barcelona with the support of the Leo Messi Foundation, to meet the needs of children who suffer from rare diseases. This follows work completed by the Leo Messi Foundation with the SJD Barcelona Children’s Hospital Pediatric Cancer Center, which treats 400 children with cancer every year.
“The set of shirts will be on display at Sotheby’s New York in a free, public exhibition open from November 30 through December 14 (the same period when bids are invited).”