Overview
- On Thursday the blue jersey Pelé wore in the 1958 World Cup final sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $4.9 million to an anonymous buyer after competitive bidding.
- The shirt now ranks as the second-most expensive football jersey ever sold, trailing Diego Maradona’s 1986 shirt, and Maradona’s 1986 captain’s armband from the same auction brought about €448,000.
- Sotheby’s said five bidders competed and the lot changed hands after ten bids, showing how rivalry at major houses pushes prices for rare game-worn items.
- Provenance reported by the auction house traces the jersey from Pelé to teammate Didi to the Museu dos Esportes in Rio, and the sale marks a jump from roughly €92,000 in 2004 to multi-million euro value today.
- The result underscores a wider trend that treats iconic sports artifacts as cultural objects and investment assets and could prompt more museums and collectors to bring key pieces to major auctions.