Six of the shirts worn by Lionel Messi throughout Argentina’s World Cup-winning marketing campaign are to be offered at public sale.
His shirt from the ultimate is included within the set, that are anticipated to fetch greater than £8m within the public sale hosted by Sotheby’s in New York.
The report for a game-worn soccer shirt is Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ jersey, which offered for £7.1m in 2022.
Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of recent collectibles, mentioned the sale of Messi’s six shirts “stands as a monumental event in public sale historical past”.
“The 2022 Fifa World Cup stands as one of many best occasions in sports activities historical past, intrinsically linked to Messi’s valiant journey and firmly establishing his standing as the best participant of all time,” Wachter mentioned.
Messi, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, grew to become the primary participant in World Cup historical past to attain within the group stage, final 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and closing of a single match.
Wachter added: “It’s an honour for Sotheby’s to current and exhibit these invaluable collectables to the general public, which encapsulate the sheer brilliance of a participant who has redefined the boundaries of soccer excellence.”
Messi’s shirts will probably be on view at Sotheby’s New York headquarters in a free, public exhibition in the course of the bidding course of, which is open between 30 November and 14 December.
He performed in all seven of Argentina’s 2022 World Cup matches, however solely two of the three shirts Messi wore in the course of the group stage will probably be auctioned, after Australia squad member Cameron Devlin swapped shirts with the previous Barcelona ahead in the course of the match.
Sotheby’s mentioned: “A portion of the proceeds from the public sale will probably be donated to Unicas Undertaking, led by Sant Joan de Deu (SJD) Barcelona Kids’s Hospital with the assist of the Leo Messi Basis, to satisfy the wants of youngsters affected by uncommon illnesses.”
