Istafa Ali
Lionel Messi’s famous 2022 FIFA World Cup shirts were sold at auction on Thursday for a huge $7.8 million, according to Sotheby’s.
The soccer great wore one of the six shirts during the first half of one of Argentina’s historic World Cup games in Qatar last year.
Sotheby’s says that the final price for the famous shirts is the most money that has been paid for a piece of sports merchandise this year.
Argentina beat France in a penalty shootout to win their third World Cup. Messi scored two of Argentina’s three goals, making the game-winning moment even more important for one of the sport’s best players.
“These historic shirts are not only a physical reminder of one of the most important events in the history of sports, but they are also linked to the peak of the career of the most decorated football player in history,” Brahm Wachter, head of modern collectibles at Sotheby’s, said in a statement.
During the two-week online sale at Sotheby’s New York headquarters, the shirts were sold, but no information about the winning bidder was given out.
Sotheby’s said that the UNICAS Project would get some of the money from the sale. The Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital is in charge of this project, which has the support of the Leo Messi Foundation and is meant to help kids who have rare illnesses.
Messi, 36, is now with Inter Miami in the Major League Soccer. He played for Barcelona for 17 years. He is the only player to have won the Ballon d’Or eight times, which is an award given every year to the best player in the game.
Sotheby’s thought that the Messi shirts might set a new sale record for sports memorabilia worn to a game, but it didn’t happen.
Last year, Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals shirt sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $10.1 million, which is the most money ever paid for a jersey that was worn in a game.
