Got £8m to splash? How about buying six Lionel Messi World Cup shirts
If you have got £8m of loose change in your pocket then keep reading as six of Lionel Messi’s World Cup shirts could be yours for a handful of millions.
Sotheby’s are flogging six Argentina shirts won by the World Cup-winning captain at the Qatar showpiece last year in New York between 30 November and 14 December, with estimates for the collection topping $10m.
It would see the lot become the most valuable bit of sports memorabilia ever sell at auction.
Messi scored two goals in the 2022 World Cup final, which they won on penalties against France after a 3-3 draw.
A portion of the proceeds would be donated to the Unicas Project.
Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals jersey holds the current record for game-worn memorabilia, having been snapped up for $10.1m in 2022.
Diego Maradona’s 1986 World Cup quarter-final shirt – worn versus England during the famous “Hand of God” game – holds the football auction record at $9.3m.
Sotheby’s are partnering with US-based tech start-up AC Momento, who specialise in match-worn memorabilia.
Messi is still playing football at 36, in the MLS with Inter Miami, having spent much of his career at Barcelona and recently won his eighth Ballon d’Or.
The catalogue note reads: “It was amazing. Everything changed for me that day. We finally got what we had dreamed of so much, the thing I’ve wanted for so long in my career. And it finally came at the end.”