In 1986, Diego Maradona owned the World Cup, considered even today as one of the greatest individual tournaments by a player, Maradona was at the height of his powers in Mexico.
In the quarterfinals against England, Argentina dug deep to defeat the English side, using the Falklands War as ammunition. On that day Maradona would score the goal of the century, when from midfield he dribbled passed the entire English defense and scored Argentina’s second goal.
Before that play, Maradona entered the England penalty area and when he jumped for a ball, he punched it and the ball got past England keeper Peter Shilton. The goal would go on to be known as “The Hand of God”, now one of the referees of that match, Ali Bin Nasser, is set to auction the ball off.
Maradona Hand Of God ball to go for millions
The infamous ball is set to be auctioned off at Graham Budd Auctions on November 16 with bids expected to be in the $2 – 4 million range. Ali Bin Nasser kept the ball after the infamous match and even met Maradona and showed him the ball many years later.
Argentina player Diego Maradona is challenged by England player Terry Fenwick as Kenny Sansom (l) looks on during the FIFA 1986 World Cup (Photo by Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive)
Bin Nasser told the Daily Mail, “This ball is part of international football history – it feels like the right time to be sharing it with the world. At Mexico ’86 I was among the 42 referees at the tournament.
“African referees didn’t get the same opportunities as those in Europe, so to be told by FIFA that I was chosen because I was among the best in the world was a huge honor and a career highlight.”
