More than 10 million dollars. That is the estimate made by Sotheby’s New York headquarters on the value of the six Leo Messi shirts that it put up for auction this Thursday until December 14. Neither more nor less are the clothing that the Argentine star wore during some of the matches played in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar going on sale.
If the hypothetical sales figure is reached or exceeded, Messi would create the most valuable sports collection ever auctioned. The current record is held by a Michael Jordan jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals, which reached 10.1 million in 2022. Likewise, the most expensive item of clothing in football belongs to the jersey from the ‘ The Hand of God’ by Diego Armando Maradona ($9.3 million).
Two of the shirts in question belong to the group stage: one from the defeat against Saudi Arabia (1-2) and another from the victory against Mexico (2-0). The remaining four are from the rest of the qualifying rounds played in that tournament by Lionel Scaloni’s team. That is, the round of 16 against Australia, the quarterfinals against the Netherlands, the semifinals against Croatia and the final against France.
It is understood that the shirt with which he raised the cup is not part of the lot, but the one available at Sotheby’s for the final has details of astonishing authenticity. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner shared last week on his social networks that the bid in question will have charitable reasons.
“A part of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to the UNICAS Project, led by the Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital (SJD) in Barcelona,” announced a few days ago the ’10’ that seeks to “cover the needs of children suffering from diseases.” rare.” In the auction, people from “all over” are expected to participate, according to Brahm Wachter, vice president at Sotheby’s, in an interview with EFE.
“Obviously with Messi coming to Miami there is a lot of enthusiasm around soccer in the US. That said, for this collection in particular, we are talking about a global audience,” added Wachter who thinks that “people have realized that they can enjoy these pieces the same way they enjoy art.” “If you hang Messi’s shirt from the World Cup final in your house, it may provoke more reactions than a Basquiat painting.”
