Nearly a year ago, Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi fulfilled his childhood dream as he lifted the 2022 Football World Cup. But the story does end there for La Pulga, as his World Cup Winning Jersey is expecting a whopping 10 Million USD bid, setting a new record in the world of sports. Renowned auction house Sotheby is undertaking the proceedings. The auction house has Messi’s six Jerseys up for sale, which include two shirts he wore during the group stage, and other four jerseys worn during the Round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final. The catalogue states that the shirts being sold were “worn through the first half of each respective match”. A set of six shirts he wore during the tournament will go under the hammer on Thursday in New York. Up till now, Messi’s shirts had attracted bids as high as 6.5 million USD by 3 pm GMT on Wednesday. And there is still over a day left before the bidding closes on Thursday. Inter Miami to Play Two Matches Against Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr at Saudi Arabia in Riyadh Season Cup 2024, Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo to Happen On February 1.

Messi scored in every knock-out game and also netted twice in group-stage games. He was named best player of the tournament and was the second top-scorer in the tournament. In the catalogue that accompanies the shirts, Messi says: “It was amazing. Everything changed for me that day. We finally got what we had dreamed of so much, the thing I’ve wanted for so long in my career. And it finally came at the end.”

Bidding War!

An undisclosed portion of the proceeds will 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 meet the needs of children with rare diseases. Google Year in Search 2023: From Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami CF to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr, Top-10 Most-Searched Sports Teams Globally.

More interestingly, Sotheby already sold jerseys for $10.091 M last year, recording the highest-selling sports tops ever. Basketball Legend Michael Jordan owns that record, whose jersey in the Game-1 of 1998 title run fetched the eight-digit amount. In the world of football, Maradona holds the record for the most expensive kit, when his 1986 World Cup jersey against England was sold at £7,142,500. The “Hand-of-God” game jersey was auctioned at Sotheby’s only.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 14, 2023 12:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).