Diego Maradona’s legendary “Hand of God” match ball from the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal between Argentina and England is set to go under the hammer in the United States this month.

Heritage Auctions is scheduled to auction the iconic football from August 21 to 23, with an opening bid of $2.5 million. The auction house reportedly expects the historic ball to fetch around $10 million or more.

The ball has been authenticated through photo matching, including detailed analysis of video footage and still images from the famous Argentina-England clash. Maradona scored both of Argentina’s goals with the same ball, including the controversial “Hand of God” goal and his celebrated solo effort later known as the “Goal of the Century.”

Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ Ball to Be Auctioned | Iconic 1986 World Cup Ball Could Fetch $10 Million

Argentina legend Diego&nbsp;Maradona’s&nbsp;stolen 1986 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball will be auctioned on June 6 in France&nbsp;as&nbsp;announced by Aguttes auction house on Tuesday (May 7). Maradona, who was the captain of the Argentina side in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, was awarded the prestigious prize for being the best player in the tournament and became the second recipient of the award&nbsp;having&nbsp;been first launched&nbsp;in 1982. The Golden Ball is estimated to attract a value in millions&nbsp;with&nbsp;top bidders estimated to travel to France for the auctions.&nbsp;

<h2>Maradona’s&nbsp;Golden Ball for auction</h2>

French newspaper&nbsp;L'Equipe&nbsp;reported on Monday that&nbsp;Maradona's&nbsp;award had been stolen&nbsp;but has resurfaced among several trophy lots in an auction room.&nbsp;Recently&nbsp;it&nbsp;was entrusted&nbsp;to Aguttes, which&nbsp;carried out an investigation into&nbsp;its provenance and managed to authenticate it as&nbsp;Maradona's&nbsp;Adidas Golden Ball trophy.

Maradona became the second recipient of the Golden Ball in 1986 after&nbsp;Italy's&nbsp;Paolo Rossi in 1982 and led his side to their second FIFA World Cup triumph while scoring five goals. He scored twice against England in the&nbsp;quarterfinal&nbsp;where he scored the iconic&nbsp;‘goal of the century’&nbsp;and the&nbsp;‘hand of god goal’&nbsp;both&nbsp;in the&nbsp;same&nbsp;match.&nbsp;

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He scored a goal with his hand against England goalkeeper Peter Shelton&nbsp;which&nbsp;he termed a&nbsp;‘hand of god goal’&nbsp;while he scored from his own half in the&nbsp;same&nbsp;match. Maradona dribbled past five defenders before beating the English goalkeeper for the goal.

The Golden Ball remains the most prestigious individual award in the FIFA World Cup&nbsp;with&nbsp; some greats of the game winning&nbsp;it.&nbsp;Italy's&nbsp;Paolo Rossi, Romario and Ronaldo of Brazil and Zinedine Zidane of France remain prominent names to win the prize asset. On the flip side,&nbsp;Maradona’s&nbsp;countryman, Lionel&nbsp;Messi&nbsp;also won the award in 2014 and 2022 and remains the only player to win it&nbsp;on two occasions.&nbsp;

Argentina legend Diego Maradona’s stolen 1986 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball will be auctioned on June 6 in France as announced by Aguttes auction house on Tuesday (May 7).

Argentina legend Diego Maradona’s stolen 1986 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball will be auctioned on June 6 in France as announced by Aguttes auction house on Tuesday (May 7). Maradona, who was the captain of the Argentina side in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, was awarded the prestigious prize for being the best player in the tournament and became the second recipient of the award having been first launched in 1982. The Golden Ball is estimated to attract a value in millions with top bidders estimated to travel to France for the auctions. Maradona’s Golden Ball for auction French newspaper L'Equipe reported on Monday that Maradona's award had been stolen but has resurfaced among several trophy lots in an auction room. Recently it was entrusted to Aguttes, which carried out an investigation into its provenance and managed to authenticate it as Maradona's Adidas Golden Ball trophy. Maradona became the second recipient of the Golden Ball in 1986 after Italy's Paolo Rossi in 1982 and led his side to their second FIFA World Cup triumph while scoring five goals. He scored twice against England in the quarterfinal where he scored the iconic ‘goal of the century’ and the ‘hand of god goal’ both in the same match. ALSO READ | Champions League: Outgoing PSG star Kylian Mbappe 'confident' of his side beating Dortmund in second leg He scored a goal with his hand against England goalkeeper Peter Shelton which he termed a ‘hand of god goal’ while he scored from his own half in the same match. Maradona dribbled past five defenders before beating the English goalkeeper for the goal. The Golden Ball remains the most prestigious individual award in the FIFA World Cup with some greats of the game winning it. Italy's Paolo Rossi, Romario and Ronaldo of Brazil and Zinedine Zidane of France remain prominent names to win the prize asset. On the flip side, Maradona’s countryman, Lionel Messi also won the award in 2014 and 2022 and remains the only player to win it on two occasions.

Diego Maradona's stolen 1986 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball to be auctioned in France on June 6

Former Tunisian football referee Ali Bin Nasser, who officiated in the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter-final in which Diego Maradona scored his famous brace against England, lauded the Argentine as a “genius” after his <a href="https://www.wionews.com/sports/football-legend-diego-maradona-60-dies-of-heart-attack-345375">demise at the age of 60 on Wednesday</a>.

Bin Nasser conceded that he doubted the validity of Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal but termed his second goal from the game as “masterpiece”.

In the 51st minute of the last-eight encounter in Mexico, Maradona outjumped England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and used his hand to slide the ball into the net to give Argentina a 1-0 lead.&nbsp;

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"I didn't see the hand, but I had a doubt," Bin Nasser, the first Tunisian to referee a World Cup quarter-final, told AFP.

"You can see the pictures -- I stepped back to take the advice of my assistant, Bulgarian (Bogdan) Dochev, and when he said it was good, I gave the goal."

The 76-year-old reckoned he was the go-to-man for FIFA in crunch matches while adding the football governing body rated him highly for his performance in the controversial match.&nbsp;

"I had already refereed a match between the USSR and China in 1985, I was the man of difficult missions for FIFA," Bin Nasser said.

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"FIFA gave me a 9.4 on this game, I did what I had to do, but there was confusion -- Dochev later indicated that he had seen two arms, and he didn't know if it was Shilton's or Maradona's."

Argentina went on to defeat England in the semi-finals of the World Cup they would go on to win when Maradona put them two goals ahead with the latter strike voted ‘Goal of the Century’.

The then-Napoli megastar dribbled past six England players before rattling the empty net.&nbsp;

"I was ready to whistle for a dangerous foul on Maradona," remembered Bin Nasser of a goal which proved to be the winner after Gary Lineker pulled one back for England.

"I thought after 50 yards of effort they were going to bring him down.

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"I was proud to participate in that masterpiece."

Maradona, 29 years later, visited Bin Nasser while shooting an advertisement in Tunisia and gave him a T-shirt bearing the words "To my eternal friend Ali".

"We had a good time, I told him that that day, it was not Argentina who won, but him, Maradona.

"He was a genius, a football legend. As a referee, I did not allow myself to close my eyes even for a second when following him, because he was capable of anything." 
&nbsp;

Former Tunisian football referee Ali Bin Nasser, who officiated in the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter-final in which Diego Maradona scored his famous brace against England, lauded the Argentine as a “genius” after his demise at the age of 60 on Wednesday.

Former Tunisian football referee Ali Bin Nasser, who officiated in the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter-final in which Diego Maradona scored his famous brace against England, lauded the Argentine as a “genius” after his demise at the age of 60 on Wednesday. Bin Nasser conceded that he doubted the validity of Maradona’s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal but termed his second goal from the game as “masterpiece”. In the 51st minute of the last-eight encounter in Mexico, Maradona outjumped England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and used his hand to slide the ball into the net to give Argentina a 1-0 lead. IN PICS | World Cup winner, Napoli legend, drug addict: Rise and fall of Diego Maradona "I didn't see the hand, but I had a doubt," Bin Nasser, the first Tunisian to referee a World Cup quarter-final, told AFP. "You can see the pictures -- I stepped back to take the advice of my assistant, Bulgarian (Bogdan) Dochev, and when he said it was good, I gave the goal." The 76-year-old reckoned he was the go-to-man for FIFA in crunch matches while adding the football governing body rated him highly for his performance in the controversial match. "I had already refereed a match between the USSR and China in 1985, I was the man of difficult missions for FIFA," Bin Nasser said. ALSO READ: Diego Maradona's body arrives at presidential palace for period of lying in state "FIFA gave me a 9.4 on this game, I did what I had to do, but there was confusion -- Dochev later indicated that he had seen two arms, and he didn't know if it was Shilton's or Maradona's." Argentina went on to defeat England in the semi-finals of the World Cup they would go on to win when Maradona put them two goals ahead with the latter strike voted ‘Goal of the Century’. The then-Napoli megastar dribbled past six England players before rattling the empty net. "I was ready to whistle for a dangerous foul on Maradona," remembered Bin Nasser of a goal which proved to be the winner after Gary Lineker pulled one back for England. "I thought after 50 yards of effort they were going to bring him down. TRENDING | RIP Maradona: Relive the iconic 'Hand of God' moment from 1986 World Cup - watch video "I was proud to participate in that masterpiece." Maradona, 29 years later, visited Bin Nasser while shooting an advertisement in Tunisia and gave him a T-shirt bearing the words "To my eternal friend Ali". "We had a good time, I told him that that day, it was not Argentina who won, but him, Maradona. "He was a genius, a football legend. As a referee, I did not allow myself to close my eyes even for a second when following him, because he was capable of anything."

'Genius': Referee who missed 'Hand of God' lavishes praise on Diego Maradona