Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' ball going under the hammer with Wellingborough auctioneers

The ball used to score two of the most famous goals in football history is going under the hammer.

The ball, brought to auction by Wellingborough-based Graham Budd Auctions, is being sold by Ali Bin Nasser, the Tunisian referee who allowed one of the most controversial goals in history during the Argentina v England 1986 World Cup quarter final.

Maradona later claimed the goal was scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.

The football was used throughout the quarter final.

Maradona’s second goal of the match has become known as the ‘goal of the century’, where he dribbled past five England players and goalkeeper Peter Shilton, before scoring.

England fought back with an 81st minute goal from Gary Lineker, but Argentina took the match 2-1, shattering England’s World Cup dreams, before going on to win the tournament.

Graham Budd, chairman of Graham Budd Auctions based on Wellingborough’s Leyland Trading Estate, said: “The timing of the match, the history between the two teams stretching back to 1951 (the first quarter final between the two teams in 1966 was also controversial for the sending off of the Argentinian captain Antonio Rattan), and the famous handball have all led to this match going down as one of the most famous and emotive matches in football history.

"With the history surrounding the ball, we are expecting this lot to be hugely popular when it comes up for auction.”

Ali Bin Nasser said: “This ball is part of international football history - it feels like the right time to be sharing it with the world.

"At Mexico ‘86 I was among the 42 referees at the tournament.

"African referees didn’t get the same opportunities as those in Europe, so to be told by FIFA that I was chosen because I was among the best in the world was a huge honour and a career highlight.”

The football has an estimate of £2.5 million to £3 million.

Alongside the famous football, the World Cup auction taking place on November 16 will see several other items of sporting memorabilia up for sale, including the shirt worn by Bin Nasser during the quarter final, and a shirt signed by Maradona to his ‘eternal friend’ at a reunion years later.

So far this year, a number of sporting auctions have broken records.

The shirt Maradona wore during the same quarter final match was sold in May for $9.3m (£7.4 million), a new world record for any piece of sporting memorabilia.

This was beaten just three months later when a Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $12.6m (£10.3 million) in August.

In September, Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA finals jersey sold for $10.1 (£8.7 million), which was a new world record for any ‘game worn’ sporting memorabilia, beating Maradona’s shirt.

Graham Budd added: “2022 has been an amazing year in the sports memorabilia market with records broken on three occasions.

"It’s an exciting time in the market and we’re wondering whether this famous football will break records as well.”

The live auction will be streamed online on November 16, with prospective buyers able to register and bid online now.

For more details visit www.grahambuddauctions.co.uk.