Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' football from 1986 World Cup win over England sells for £2.5m

BBC News · 🇬🇧 public United Kingdom · Aug 24, 2026 · 265 words · By Katie Falkingham

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What to know about Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' football from 1986 World Cup win over England sells for £2.5m

Maradona's 'Hand of God' ball sells for £2.5m - Published The football with which Diego Maradona scored his famous 'hand of God' goal at the 1986 World Cup has sold at auction for £2.5m.

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

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Center50%

Right50%

2 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Maradona's 'Hand of God' ball sells for £2.5m - Published The football with which Diego Maradona scored his famous 'hand of God' goal at the 1986 World Cup has sold at auction for £2.5m.

Why it matters

Maradona famously punched the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton in Argentina's 2-1 quarter-final win over England.

Common ground

After the game, he told reporters it had been scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God".

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' football from 1986 World Cup win over England sells for £2.5m?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Maradona later scored what became known as the 'goal of the century' in the same game, dribbling past five England outfield players before slotting the ball past Shilton?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cqxvj8j7gy8o?at_medium=RSS&at_camp…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7

verified Verified By Reference 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

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Claim 1: “Maradona later scored what became known as the 'goal of the century' in the same game, dribbling past five England outfield players before slotting the ball past Shilton.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm Maradona scored the 'goal of the century' in the same match by dribbling past five England players and scoring past Shilton.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Argentina 2–1 England quarter-final match of the 1986 FIFA World Cup was a football match played on 22 June 1986 between Argentina and England at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The match was held …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina_v_England_(1986_FIFA…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Diego Armando Maradona (30 October 1960 – 25 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history, he was one of the two …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Maradona

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — "The Hand of God" (Spanish: La mano de Dios) is the name given to the opening goal awarded to Argentine footballer Diego Maradona during Argentina's victory over England in a quarter-final match at th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_hand_of_God

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “Though it sold for $3.3m (£2.5m) at Heritage Auctions in the United States on Saturday, the ball had been expected to fetch nearer $10m (£7.3m).”

CORROBORATED

Independent sources confirm the sale price of $3.3 million (£2.5 million) at Heritage Auctions and that it fell short of the $10 million (£7.3 million) expectation.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of most valuable celebrity memorabilia (or most expensive celebrity items auctioned), consisting of individual items sold with an auction price of US$2 million or more and even…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_valuable_celebrit…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of sports cards that have sold for an inflation-adjusted price of over $500,000. The list is ordered by inflation-adjusted value (in bold) in millions of United States dollars.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_sports_…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “Its new owner again put it up for auction in 2023 though it did not sell as bids did not meet the minimum value set.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the new owner attempted to auction the ball in 2023, but it failed to sell as it did not meet the reserve price.

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web search NEUTRAL — Its new owner again put it up for auction in 2023 but it failed to meet the reserve price.
https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/sport/national/264912…

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web search NEUTRAL — Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser, who took charge of the match, collected the ball at full-time and kept it for more than three decades. He sold the ball in 2022 for 2.37m USD (£1.74m). Its new owner a…
https://www.ealingtimes.co.uk/sport/national/26491262.diego-…

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web search NEUTRAL — It was put up for auction again in 2023, but failed to sell after bids did not reach the minimum value. The football is not the only piece of memorabilia from the historic match to command a huge pric…
https://see.news/maradonas-hand-of-god-goes-under-hammer-for…

verified

Claim 4: “Maradona famously punched the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton in Argentina's 2-1 quarter-final win over England.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and multiple news sources confirm Maradona scored the 'Hand of God' goal using his hand against goalkeeper Peter Shilton in the 2-1 quarter-final win.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Shilton's 31-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the unique distin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Shilton

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “The shirt worn by Maradona during the same match sold for £7.1m at auction in 2022.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm the specific sale price of the shirt for £7.1 million in 2022, although one source mentions a shirt sold for nearly $9.3 million.

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Claim 6: “Tunisian Ali Bin Nasser, who refereed the match in 1986, collected the Adidas Azteca ball at full-time and kept it for more than three decades.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser collected the Adidas Azteca ball at full-time and kept it for over three decades.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the se…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_FIFA_World_Cup

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, afte…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025 FIFA Arab Cup (Arabic: كأس العرب 2025) was the 11th edition of the Arab Cup, the Arab world's national team football tournament. It was the second edition under FIFA's jurisdiction, with prev…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_FIFA_Arab_Cup

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “Bin Nasser sold the ball in 2022 for $2.37m (£1.74m).”

CORROBORATED

Web search results explicitly state that Bin Nasser sold the ball in 2022 for $2.37 million (£1.74 million).

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web search NEUTRAL — Reddit is a network of communities where people can dive into their interests, hobbies and passions. There's a community for whatever you're interested in on Reddit.
https://www.reddit.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — The most official Reddit community of all official Reddit communities. Your go-to place for Reddit updates, announcements, and news. Occasional frivolity.
https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/wiki/index/

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web search NEUTRAL — r/kpopfap: Korean pop - lewd edition. View a mirror of the sub that has much better formatting and enhanced sorting options at…
https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopfap/

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Claim 8: “The football with which Diego Maradona scored his famous 'hand of God' goal at the 1986 World Cup has sold at auction for £2.5m.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources (inews.co.uk, SAMAA TV) confirm the football sold for £2.5 million ($3.3 million) at auction.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 9: “In 2023, he signed a letter to confirm it was the only ball used during the match, which has also been confirmed by further independent authentication.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm Bin Nasser signed a letter in 2023 stating it was the only ball used, and that this was independently authenticated.

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web search NEUTRAL — Tunisian referee Ali Bin Nasser kept the Adidas Azteca ball for more than three decades after the match, signed a letter in 2023 confirming it was the only ball used, and the item was further authenti…
https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/08-24-2026-maradona-h…

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web search NEUTRAL — Ali Bin Nasser, the Tunisian referee who officiated the England-Argentina match, collected the Adidas Azteca ball after the final whistle. He kept it for more than 30 years.In 2023, Bin Nasser signed …
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/international-spo…

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web search NEUTRAL — Bin Nasser had also signed a letter in 2023 confirming that the Adidas Azteca was the only ball used during the historic match. The claim was subsequently supported by independent authentication.
https://www.nairaland.com/8734702/maradonas-hand-god-ball-se…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.