Lionel Messi’s six World Cup shirts sell for $12.5 million at auction in New York

A shirt worn by Lionel Messi in a match for Argentina against Saudi Arabia in the 2022 FIFA World Cup on display at Sotheby's. Photo / AP

Six jerseys worn by football superstar Lionel Messi during Argentina’s title-clinching campaign at Fifa World Cup 2023 sold Thursday for $12.5 million (US$7.8 million).

The final price for the shirts, each worn during the first half of one of Argentina’s games at the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, is the highest price for an item of sports memorabilia this year, auction house Sotheby’s said.

Argentina defeated France in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw in the World Cup final, winning their third World Cup.

The victory, in which Messi scored two of Argentina’s three goals, represented a crowning moment for one of the sport’s greatest-ever players.

“These historic shirts are not only a tangible reminder of one of the most important moments in the history of sports, but are principally connected to the pinnacle moment in the career of the most decorated football player in history,” Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles, said in a statement.

The shirts were on display at Sotheby’s New York headquarters during the two-week online auction that ended Thursday.

No information on the winning bidder was released.

Sotheby’s said a portion of the auction proceeds would be donated to the UNICAS Project, led by Sant Joan de Déu Barcelona Children’s Hospital with the support of the Leo Messi Foundation, to help children suffering from rare diseases.

The 36-year-old Messi, who currently plays for Inter Miami in the MLS, spent 17 years at Barcelona. He has won the Ballon d’Or, which is presented annually to the game’s top player, a record eight times.

Sotheby’s had hoped that the Messi shirts might set an auction record for game-worn sports memorabilia, but that did not occur.

The record for a game-worn item of sports memorabilia remains Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals jersey, which sold for $10.1 million at Sotheby’s in New York last year.

- with AP