In the 1986 World Cup, Diego Maradona was motivated by many things, his entire career he fought hard to make it to professional soccer, while his family suffered from poverty. Revenge was the primary reason for this goal, against England.
"The hand of God" (Spanish: La mano de Dios) was a handling goal scored by Argentine footballer Diego Maradona during the Argentina v England quarter finals match of the 1986 FIFA World Cup. The goal was illegal under association football rules due to Maradona using his hand, but because the referees did not have a clear view of the play and video assistant referee technology did not exist, it stood to give Argentina a 1–0 lead. Argentina went on to win 2–1, with Maradona scoring a second goal known as the "Goal of the Century", en route to claiming the World Cup.
The goal's name derives from Maradona's initial response on whether he scored it illegally, stating it was made with "a little with the head of Maradona, and a little with the hand of God". Maradona later said he considered the goal to be "symbolic revenge" for the United Kingdom's victory over Argentina in the Falklands War four years earlier.
The goal would live in infamy, in soccer, and knowing Maradona's controversial history, this was not exactly out of the ordinary for him.
Maradona spent his successful career playing for multiple clubs in Europe, including Barcelona, Napoli, and Sevilla. His international career was spent in the Argentinian junior club and National team where he went to the World Cup in 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994. Maradona finished his soccer career in Mexico, coaching the Dorados de Sinaloa successfully as seen on the Netflix series, and followed up the run with a stint with Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His life has been documented recently in movie and series forms, on Amazon and Netflix.
Maradona's jersey from the 1986 match sold for $9.28 million, in Sotheby's London at an auction on May 4th, 2022.
The final price solidifies how popular football is worldwide, even beating Babe Ruth's Game-Worn Jersey auction price at $5.64 million in 2019. In comparison the most expensive hockey jersey ever sold was Paul Henderson's Summit Series jersey, which sold for $1.27 million. Henderson's jersey had previously been listed as the 3rd highest price ever paid for a jersey, but today's sale bumps him out of the top 3.
