Argentina captain Lionel Messi’s set of six shirts from his team’s title-winning 2022 World Cup campaign, including one from their epic final triumph over France, sold for a whopping $7.8 million at auction on Thursday at Sotheby’s New York. Notably, the shirts Messi wore in the first half of Argentina’s six matches in Qatar were auctioned off by the tech startup AC Momento and eventually sold to an anonymous buyer. Many expected the piece to sell for a record price, becoming the highest sum paid for a game-worn jersey at auction. However, it fell short of surpassing the elusive $ 10.1mn mark, which was spent in September 2022 on all-time great basketballer Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 jersey.
When it comes to Messi’s performance in Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign, he won the Golden Ball title for best player
Messi’s collection of shirts, on the other hand, surpassed the $9.28 million paid for Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” Argentina jersey, which was sold in May 2022. The late Argentinian wore the shirt during his team’s dramatic 2-1 quarter-final victory over England in the 1986 World Cup (also won by Argentina). It should be noted that the final price for sports memorabilia is the highest at this year’s auction. Furthermore, it establishes a new record for Messi memorabilia. The previous record for a piece of Messi match-worn gear was $450,000 (paid in May 2022) on a shirt he wore during his former team Barcelona’s El Clásico match against Real Madrid in 2017.
When it comes to Messi’s performance in Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign, he won the Golden Ball title for best player with seven goals. Argentina earned their third World Cup championship under him, ending a 36-year drought, by defeating Australia, the Netherlands, Croatia, and France in the Round of 16, quarters, semi-finals, and final in last year’s mega event in Qatar. Messi and Spain’s Aitana Bonmati were both nominated for FIFA Best Player awards on Thursday. He is still one of the top names in world football, despite being 36 years old.