Six of Lionel Messi shirts is expected to be sold for more than £8m.

Posted 10 months ago

The auction house Sotheby is set to auction off six shirts worn by Lionel Messi during Argentina’s winning run at last year's soccer World Cup in Qatar.

According to report, the shirts will become the most valuable collection of sports memorabilia ever sold at potentially more than $10 million.

The current holder is Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls jersey from the 1998 NBA finals — known as “the Last Dance” season — which sold for $10.1m in September 2022.

The auction house said Monday that it will put up for sale in New York where six of the seven first-half jerseys the Argentina captain wore in Qatar, including the one he donned in the dramatic win in the final against France.

Like many soccer players, he often swaps his shirt with someone from the opposing side at the end of each match, his being the most-sought after.

Diego Maradona’s 1986 World Cup quarter-final shirt, where he scored twice for Argentina against England with his “Hand of God” goal and famous solo effort, is the most expensive match-worn football shirt sold at auction, fetching $9.3 m in May 2022.

The shirts will be open for bidding between November 30 and December 14 at Sotheby’s gallery in New York.

A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Unicas Project — a project led by Sant Joan de Deu (SJD) Barcelona Children’s Hospital with the support of the Leo Messi Foundation, which aims to aid children suffering from rare diseases.