Ahead World Cup final: Pele’s 1970 jersey sold at auction for millions of dollars

By Jonathan Gorrie, yahoo!sports

Soccer jerseys are some of the most expensive pieces of memorabilia sport has to offer, particularly when they are related to the FIFA World Cup.

The biggest tournament in the sport, of course, only rolls around once every four years.

As such, it sits above everything else. Legends are made within its confines, and fans generally believe a player can only truly enter the GOAT conversation when they have won the competition.

It is perhaps not all that surprising, then, that Pele’s jersey from the 1958 World Cup final in Sweden has sold for a huge amount of money.

Pele’s World Cup jersey sells for $4.9m

Indeed, the jersey that Pele wore in the 1958 final to claim Brazil’s first of five World Cups has sold at auction for a huge $4.9m.

A then 17-year-old Pele scored twice in the final against Sweden, beginning one of the most celebrated and successful careers in the sport which would see him lift a further two World Cups (1962, 1970).

The Brazil legend still holds the record as the youngest player to score in a World Cup final.

Diego Maradona’s 1986 Argentina jersey is the most expensive of all time

While Pele’s shirt is now the most expensive piece of memorabilia ever sold at auction, it still isn’t the most expensive in general.

That honor is with Diego Maradona’s jersey from Argentina’s win over England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals.

That game is famous for the forward’s ‘Hand of God’ goal, where he scored using his hand. Maradona then scored a brilliant individualistic goal four minutes later as Argentina went on to win the World Cup that year.

In 2022, that sold for $9.54million, breaking a record previously set by Babe Ruth’s baseball jersey.

In 2019, that was sold for $5.64m at auction.