The Lionel Messi shirt collection worn at the 2022 World Cup is expected to sell for at least 10 million USD.

The collection includes six shirts Messi wore in six matches at the tournament in Qatar last year, of which the most valuable is the shirt in the final against France. Sotheby’s auction house will open the sale in New York, expected to raise at least 10 million USD and will spend part of that amount for charity purposes.

“World Cup 2022 is one of the biggest sporting events in history, associated with Lionel Messi’s courageous journey, thereby affirming his position as the best player of all time. Selling these six shirts is monumental event in the history of the auction industry, giving fans and collectors the opportunity to connect with the aura of Messi,” said Sotheby’s head of modern collections Brahm Wachter.

Six jerseys worn by Messi at the 2022 World Cup are about to be auctioned. Photo: Daily Mail

Specifically, the shirts in the set include the shirts Messi wore in the first half of the final, the semi-final match against Croatia, the quarter-final match against the Netherlands, the 1/8 round against Australia and two of the three group stage matches.

If sold for more than 10.2 million USD, Messi’s shirt will set a world record for the most valuable sports souvenir in history. The current record belongs to the jersey worn by basketball legend Michael Jordan in game one, the 1998 NBA finals. That was Jordan’s last season playing for the Chicago Bulls. This shirt was sold for $10.14 million last September at Sotheby’s in New York.

At this time, the record for most valuable football shirt belongs to the shirt Diego Maradona wore in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup, when he scored the famous “Hand of God” goal. In last year’s auction, an anonymous person spent $8.9 million to buy this shirt from former England midfielder Steve Hodge.

Messi displays the shirt he wore in the 2022 World Cup final.

Compared to famous figures outside sports, Messi’s jersey is also highly valued. The most valuable souvenir in music belongs to the legendary rock guitar Kurt Cobain played on the 1993 MTV Unplugged show, five months before his death. The guitar sold for $5.3 million in 2020.

Currently, the Messi shirt sold at the highest price is the shirt he wore in the Super Classic match in 2017. At that time, the Argentina captain scored in injury time, helping Barca win Real 3-2. This shirt sold for 450,000 USD.

Messi is the Best Player of the 2022 World Cup. He is considered an important inspiration that brought Argentina to the final match, with five goals and three assists, directly imprinting on eight of the 12 goals the home team scored from group stage to semi-finals. In the final, Messi continued to make his mark by directly scoring two goals – including the penalty kick that opened the score and initiated the situation that led to the other goal. He also played in the first penalty shootout, giving his teammates more confidence to perform well in the next three rounds so Argentina won 4-2.