A shirt worn by Brazilian football legend Pelé during the 1958 FIFA World Cup final has sold for $4.9 million (£3.6 million) at auction in New York.
The blue Brazil shirt, worn in the country’s 5-2 victory over hosts Sweden, was sold by Sotheby’s on Thursday after bidding from five participants. It is the second most expensive football shirt ever sold at auction.
Pelé, who was 17 at the time, scored twice in the final to help Brazil secure the first of its five World Cup titles. The victory established the forward, widely regarded as one of football’s greatest players, on the global stage.
The auction price is second only to the $9.3 million paid in 2022 for the Argentina shirt worn by Diego Maradona during the 1986 World Cup quarter-final against England.
Maradona’s shirt became famous after the match in which he scored twice, including the controversial “Hand of God” goal, when he punched the ball into the net before adding the celebrated solo effort later dubbed the “Goal of the Century.”
