Lionel Messi's World Cup match shirts including the kit he wore for the iconic final against France are set to sell for £8million at an auction
Six tops from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in which Argentina beat France on penalties to lift the trophy are being auctioned as a set by Sotheby’s in New York, with a portion of the proceeds going to charity.
According to Mail Online, The shirts are from the first half of the final, the semi-final against Croatia, the quarter-final against Netherlands, and round-of 16 match versus Australia, and two of the three group-stage games, with an estimated price of at least $10m (£8m). That would make it a record for a ‘sports memorabilia collection’.
The current record for an item of sports memorabilia is Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 which sold for £8.1million in September of last year at Sotheby’s New York.
Meanwhile, the most expensive piece of music memorabilia is Kurt Cobain’s guitar that he used during an MTV Unplugged performance in 1993, just five months before he died. That sold for £4.2m in 2020.
Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, said: ‘The 2022 FIFA World Cup stands as one of the greatest events in sports history, intrinsically connected to Messi's valiant journey and firmly establishing his status as the greatest player of all-time.
‘The sale of these six shirts stands as a monumental occasion in auction history, offering fans and collectors a connection to Messi's crowning achievement. It is an honour for Sotheby's to present and exhibit these invaluable collectables to the public, which encapsulate the sheer brilliance of a player who has redefined the boundaries of football excellence.’
