Messi’s World Cup 2022 jersey is up for auction

Arushi Sakhuja

All you Messi fans, we have some news. While the footballer may have retired from the sport, he has a place in every football lover’s heart. And rightly so. Messi may not return to the World Cup field, but the last cup was truly special for the player. It was his last World Cup and he won the cup! “I dreamed of it so many times, I wanted it so much that I still can’t believe it,” said the footballer.  Messi’s World Cup 2022 jersey is now going up for auction at Sotheby and it could fetch upto a whopping 10 million.

The World Cup-winning jersey is truly one of the rarest and most desired by many. When Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup in Qatar last December, the moment seemed fit for the coronation of a football deity. It indeed was a nail-biting match that went into penalties, yet Messi’s exceptional skills on the field proved themselves once again. To celebrate this momentous occasion,  Sotheby’s has announced that a set of six of Lionel Messi’s match-worn Argentina shirts, in the iconic white and sky blue, from his historic 2022 FIFA World Cup run, will be up for auction.

But what makes each of these six jerseys truly special is that they are match-worn shirts, including the one worn on the day of the finals. Messi’s World Cup 2022 jersey represents the career of Lionel Messi and the cementing of his legacy as the greatest of all time. In the years and decades to come, this collection will serve as a reminder of what makes Messi, Messi: the ability to deliver on the biggest stage when the entire world stopped to see if he could.

Sotheby’s estimates the collection’s value to exceed $10 million, potentially breaking the $9.3 million record set by Diego Maradona’s shirt in 2022. The star took to Instagram to say that a portion of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to UNICAS Project, led by Sant Joan de Déu (SJD) Barcelona Children’s Hospital to meet the needs of children suffering from rare diseases.

Bidding opens from November 30 till December 14 at Sotheby’s New York. The jerseys will be on display at their New York offices during the bidding period.  The question is, could it break the all-time sporting auction record?