‘Just’ 4.9 million for Pelé’s shirt; Maradona is still number one

Thanks to a last-minute bid, the shirt he wore as a 17-year-old to win the World Cup has raised $4,880,000 in Pelé’s memory. This was the price achieved at Sotheby’s online auction ‘The Beautiful Game’, dedicated to football and running from 29 June until 16 July 2026 (three days before the final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup).

A disappointing result, given that the pre-auction estimate for the shirt was 6,000,000 dollars. Sic transit gloria mundi? To say that ‘thus passes the glory of the world’ is perhaps an exaggeration, but all lots linked to the Brazilian legend underperformed compared to their estimates. For example, the 1958 Pelé Rookie Card Alifabolaget #635, graded PSA 8 – one of the finest known examples – had a net estimate of 80,000 – 100,000 dollars, fetched just 57,600 dollars, including commission. Or take the 1958 Pelé rookie card, Ave. Ltda. Colecao Titulares #86 – PSA 5 (lot 16): it fetched $21,760 against an estimate of $40,000–60,000. This trend was seen across all lots, even the cheapest ones, those with a net low estimate of $500: several fetched as little as $384 gross (lots 33, 35, 36, 37). Perhaps the auction – which was nonetheless a sell-out – was affected by Brazil’s far from impressive performance in this World Cup, having been sensationally knocked out in the round of 16. In any case, all 58 lots in the catalogue were sold.

La storica maglia indossata da Pelé nella finale dei Mondiali del 1958

On 29 June 1958, Pelé was just a teenager, but with two goals he helped his team – Brazil – win their first World Cup in Sweden. To this day, Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940–2022) – the champion’s real name – remains the youngest player ever to have featured in the World Cup. The shirt Pelé wore in that final – number 10 – was not his own, but belonged to his team-mate Dida, Edvaldo Alves Santa Rosa, who shared a room with the youngster for the duration of the World Cup: the youngster actually began his 1958 World Cup in Sweden as a substitute, only taking to the pitch in the third match. From that point on, he would change the course of the World Cup forever: he scored the decisive goal against Wales in the quarter-finals, and became the youngest player ever to score a hat-trick in a World Cup semi-final (against France). And it was with that shirt that he would wipe away his tears of joy in the final. Pelé returned the shirt to Dida, and from then on (until 1993), it remained with his family in Maceió. It was later donated to the Museu dos Esportes Edvaldo Alves Santa Rosa.

Also up for auction were seven Lionel Messi shirts, including the one the player wore during the legendary ‘Remontada’ (Barcelona’s 6–1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16, on 8 March 2017, which saw them overturn a 4–0 first-leg deficit). The final price was $217,600, against an estimate of $200,000–$400,000 (lot 3). The Argentina 2021 qualifying shirt, lot 9, fetched $108,800 (estimate $80,000–$100,000). Furthermore, an Argentina shirt worn by Messi in 2022 during the first half of a friendly against Honduras – a match in which he scored – fetched $64,000 from an estimate of $80,000–100,000 (lot 48). The 2019–2020 FC Barcelona shirt fared better (lot 7, $108,800 from $60,000–$80,000). Moving on to another player, a disappointing lot was Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2019 Juventus Scudetto shirt (lot 4): ‘only’ $44,800 gross against an estimate of $70,000–$90,000. Curiously, another of Ronaldo’s Juventus shirts proved a surprise: the team’s away kit (lot 49) changed hands for $21,760, from a base estimate of $10,000.

Lot number 2 in the auction, on the other hand, was the captain’s armband worn by Diego Armando Maradona (1960–2020) on 22 June 1986, during the Argentina v England quarter-final,