en.malanginspirasi.com – A shirt worn by football legend Pelé during the 1958 World Cup final has been sold for a staggering $4.9 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.
The sale marks the highest amount ever paid for a piece of Pelé memorabilia.
It also places the jersey as the second most valuable football shirt in history, sitting just behind Diego Maradona’s 1986 “Hand of God” Argentina shirt, which fetched £7.1 million in 2022.
The historic shirt drew intense interest, sparking 10 bids from over five different collectors.
Its new multimillion-dollar price tag highlights an astronomical surge in the sports memorabilia market; the exact same jersey previously sold in 2004 for just $105,600 (£70,505).
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Pelé wore the shirt as a 17-year-old prodigy, scoring two goals against tournament hosts Sweden to secure Brazil’s first-ever World Cup title.
To this day, he remains the youngest player ever to score in a World Cup final.
“Today’s result is a powerful testament to the enduring legacy of one of the greatest footballers of all time,” said Brendan Hawkes, Sotheby’s head of sports strategy and development. “This shirt is… principally connected to the very moment that catapulted Pelé into a global sporting icon.”
Other Highlights from ‘The Beautiful Game’ Auction
The jersey was the crown jewel of Sotheby’s Thursday auction, which featured several other high-profile pieces of football history.
Among the notable sales was the captain’s armband worn by Diego Maradona during that same infamous 1986 World Cup match against England, which sold for $512,000 (£380,000).
Additionally, a shirt worn by Lionel Messi during Barcelona’s legendary 6–1 Champions League comeback against Paris Saint-Germain fetched $217,600 (£161,482).
Rounding out the major lots, David Beckham’s England jersey from his 50th international cap at the 2002 World Cup went to a collector for $51,200 (£37,996).
