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Diego Maradona football shirt sells for record-breaking amount

diego maradona and shirtImage source, Sotheby's & Getty

A piece of sporting history has just sold for a record breaking amount!

A football shirt worn by legendary player Diego Maradona when he scored two famous goals for Argentina has sold for a whopping £7,142,500 at auction.

The sale has broken the record for the most money paid for a shirt worn during a sports match.

Maradona, who played for Argentina, wore the shirt during an epic quarter-final match at the 1986 World Cup against England.

Image source, Sotheby's
Image caption,

Diego Maradona's famous number 10 shirt

Maradona's no 10 shirt has been owned for the past 35 years by the former England midfielder Steve Hodge.

The two players swapped shirts at the end of the game, after England had been knocked out of the competition by Argentina.

For the last 20 years, the shirt has been on loan to the National Football Museum in Manchester.

Brahm Wachter, who works for Sotheby's - the auction house who sold the shirt - said: "This is arguably the most coveted football shirt to ever come to auction, and so it is fitting that it now holds the auction record for any object of its kind."

Who was Diego Maradona?

Media caption,

Who was Diego Maradona? (Nov 2020)

The Argentinian forward it often described as the best footballer of all time.

In a career spanning two decades, he scored more than 300 goals at club level and 34 goals for Argentina.

He took the team to four world cups, and won one in 1986, with two extremely famous goals.

Want to learn more about Maradona?

Why were the goals he scored in the 1986 World Cup so famous?

The striker scored two goals to knock England out of the 1986 World Cup. One is known as the "The Hand of God" and the other remembered as the "Goal of the Century".

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Maradona (right) is best known for his 'hand of god' goal against England in the 1986 World Cup

The first was hugely controversial. England goalie Peter Shilton jumped up to save a goal, but Maradona jumped higher, and punched the ball into the back of the net.

Although handballs are against football rules, the referee didn't actually see it happen, so allowed the goal to stand.

"A little with the head of Maradona, and a little with the hand of God"

— Diego Maradona, The striker's explanation of how he scored one of the most famous goals of all time

The second was later named the goal of the century - and this time it was completely within the rules!

Maradona dribbled and swerved gracefully around loads of England players to score and secure Argentina's victory against England.