[Source: Reuters]
The shirt worn by Brazil great Pele when he scored twice in the 1958 World Cup final has sold for $4.9 million at auction, becoming the most valuable piece of memorabilia linked to the football legend, Sotheby’s said on Thursday.
The number 10 shirt, worn by the then 17-year-old as Brazil beat hosts Sweden 5-2 in Stockholm to win their first world title, attracted 10 bids from more than five bidders, the auction house said.
The sale made it the second-most expensive football shirt sold at auction, behind the $9.3 million paid in 2022 for the shirt worn by Diego Maradona when he scored his “Hand of God” goal for Argentina against England at the 1986 World Cup.
Pele, who died in 2022 aged 82, scored twice in the 1958 showpiece and remains the youngest player to score in a World Cup final.
The shirt had previously sold at auction in 2004 for 70,505 pounds ($105,600), according to Sotheby’s.
