Auction recap / Sotheby's

Sotheby's Realizes $6,578,816 in The Beautiful Game Auction with 100% Sell-Through

The sports memorabilia sale achieved a perfect sell-through rate, led by a historic Pelé match-worn shirt.

PC Auction DeskSeptember 9, 2026Source reviewed / 13 citations / 1 source

Sotheby's Realizes $6,578,816 in The Beautiful Game Auction with 100% Sell-Through — Illustration: Pricing Culture Studio

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Auction Math · 58 public lot recordsPC Auction Desk

$6.6M

Total realized

—

Estimate range (Σ)

100%

Sell-through

—

vs Σ high estimate

Auction highlights

Pelé 1958 FIFA World Cup Final Championship Clinching Match Worn Shirt | Two Goals | Brazil’s First World Cup Championship
Sold$4,880,000
Diego Maradona ‘Hand of God’ and ‘Goal of the Century’ 1986 World Cup Match Worn Captain's Armband | Matched to 3 Games | Matched to 1986 FIFA World Cup Final | Apparent Match to Round of 16 vs Uruguay
Sold$512,000
Lionel Messi “Remontada” FC Barcelona 2017 Champions League Match Worn Shirt | 1 Goal | Greatest Comeback in Champions League History
Sold$217,600
Lionel Messi FC Barcelona 2006 Match Worn Shirt | 1 Goal and 1 Assist | 8th Career La Liga Goal | Earliest Known Photomatched Messi Shirt | 12th Career Goal
Sold$128,000
Lionel Messi Argentina 2021 COMNEBOL World Cup Qualifier Match Worn Shirt
Sold$108,800
Pelé 1958 Alifaboliget #635 - PSA 8 | Rookie Card
Sold$108,800
Lionel Messi FC Barcelona 2019-2020 La Liga Match Worn Shirt | 2 Goals and 2 Assists | 7th Pichichi Trophy Season
Sold$108,800
Lionel Messi Argentina 2022 Match Worn Shirt | 2 Goals
Sold$64,000
Pelé Alifabolaget #635 - PSA 7 | Rookie Card
Sold$57,600
David Beckham England 2002 FIFA World Cup Match Worn Shirt | 50th Career Cap | 1 Assist
Sold$51,200
Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus 2019 ‘Scudetto Clinching’ Match Worn Shirt | First Player to Win the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A Titles
Sold$44,800
Andres Iniesta Spain 2018 FIFA World Cup Group Stage Match Worn Shirt
Sold$40,960

Auction highlights		Sold price
	Pelé 1958 FIFA World Cup Final Championship Clinching Match Worn Shirt \| Two Goals \| Brazil’s First World Cup Championship	$4,880,000
	Diego Maradona ‘Hand of God’ and ‘Goal of the Century’ 1986 World Cup Match Worn Captain's Armband \| Matched to 3 Games \| Matched to 1986 FIFA World Cup Final \| Apparent Match to Round of 16 vs Uruguay	$512,000
	Lionel Messi “Remontada” FC Barcelona 2017 Champions League Match Worn Shirt \| 1 Goal \| Greatest Comeback in Champions League History	$217,600
	Lionel Messi FC Barcelona 2006 Match Worn Shirt \| 1 Goal and 1 Assist \| 8th Career La Liga Goal \| Earliest Known Photomatched Messi Shirt \| 12th Career Goal	$128,000
	Lionel Messi Argentina 2021 COMNEBOL World Cup Qualifier Match Worn Shirt	$108,800
	Pelé 1958 Alifaboliget #635 - PSA 8 \| Rookie Card	$108,800
	Lionel Messi FC Barcelona 2019-2020 La Liga Match Worn Shirt \| 2 Goals and 2 Assists \| 7th Pichichi Trophy Season	$108,800
	Lionel Messi Argentina 2022 Match Worn Shirt \| 2 Goals	$64,000
	Pelé Alifabolaget #635 - PSA 7 \| Rookie Card	$57,600
	David Beckham England 2002 FIFA World Cup Match Worn Shirt \| 50th Career Cap \| 1 Assist	$51,200
	Cristiano Ronaldo Juventus 2019 ‘Scudetto Clinching’ Match Worn Shirt \| First Player to Win the Premier League, La Liga, and Serie A Titles	$44,800
	Andres Iniesta Spain 2018 FIFA World Cup Group Stage Match Worn Shirt	$40,960

Lot rows show the price fields disclosed in the source record.

Market context · Collectibles · 2026 YTDPC Auction Desk

Christie's

$2.0B

Sotheby's

$28.3M

Juliens Auction

$17.3M

Bonhams

$6.2M

Phillips

$2.2M

#8 of 126 Sotheby's sales this yearCollectibles YTD $2.1BAvg sell-through 93%Leader Christie's

Contextual data provided by Pricing Culture Analytics; this is not an exhaustive list. Pricing Culture Analytics organizes publicly available auction data to analyze and produce insights.

Sotheby's concluded its sports memorabilia auction, The Beautiful Game, realizing a total of $6,578,816 with a perfect^[1] 100% sell-through rate^[1] as 58 of 58 lots found buyers. Sotheby's served as the official result source for the sale^[1], which brought together iconic jerseys and historic artifacts from football history.

Auction highlights

Sale file

Pelé 1958 FIFA World Cup Final Championship Clinching Match Worn Shirt | Two Goals | Brazil’s First World Cup Championship | sold for $4,880,000
Diego Maradona ‘Hand of God’ and ‘Goal of the Century’ 1986 World Cup Match Worn Captain's Armband | Matched to 3 Games | Matched to 1986 FIFA World Cup Final | Apparent Match to Round of 16 vs Uruguay | sold for $512,000
Lionel Messi “Remontada” FC Barcelona 2017 Champions League Match Worn Shirt | 1 Goal | Greatest Comeback in Champions League History | sold for $217,600
Lionel Messi FC Barcelona 2006 Match Worn Shirt | 1 Goal and 1 Assist | 8th Career La Liga Goal | Earliest Known Photomatched Messi Shirt | 12th Career Goal | sold for $128,000
Lionel Messi Argentina 2021 COMNEBOL World Cup Qualifier Match Worn Shirt | sold for $108,800
Pelé 1958 Alifaboliget #635 - PSA 8 | Rookie Card | sold for $108,800
Lionel Messi FC Barcelona 2019-2020 La Liga Match Worn Shirt | 2 Goals and 2 Assists | 7th Pichichi Trophy Season | sold for $108,800
Lionel Messi Argentina 2022 Match Worn Shirt | 2 Goals | sold for $64,000

By realized value, this event stands as the #8 sale of 126 concluded by the house during the year. Across all sales, the house has realized $255,188,830. In the broader^[1] collectibles category, tracked activity across all monitored houses has reached $2,088,565,371, maintaining^[1] an average of 93.2% sell-through^[1], with Christie's leading the category. For Sotheby's specifically, the year-to-date performance shows $113,889,861 realized^[1] with a 95.8% sell-through rate^[1].

Sources

01
Sotheby's
The Beautiful Game