While the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was one of the most controversial sporting events since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, many football enthusiasts consider the 2022 tournament as one of the greatest ever.
It marked the final World Cup for superstar athletes Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Having won everything except the World Cup, things could change for Messi when Argentina faced France in the final. The game ended 2-2 after 90 minutes and then escalated to 3-3 after extra time. The game came down to a penalty shoot-out, and Argentina won, with Messi finally securing the title with his national team.
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Little did we know, Messi had arranged beforehand to save all of his game-worn shirts during the World Cup. Despite participating in all seven matches, he kept only six shirts. Fortunately, these included the important ones worn in the final, semifinal, quarterfinal, and round of 16. The remaining two shirts are from the group stage games, where Messi played all three matches.
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Messi collaborated with AC Momento, that partners with athletes, to auction the jerseys. It remains uncertain whether Messi directly sold the shirts to AC Momento or if he will receive a percentage of the proceeds from the sale scheduled for 30 November. Sotheby's, who will handle the auction, expect the shirts to sell for $10 million.
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The current record for the most expensive sports jersey ever sold is held by Michael Jordan's 1999 NBA Finals 'The Last Dance' game-worn jersey, which sold for $10,091,000 earlier this year at Sotheby's. Even if the Messi shirts exceed the estimated $10 million, they wouldn't set a record, considering it involves a group of shirts. However, had Messi's final-worn shirt been sold by itself, it likely could have reached a figure comparable to the total sum of all six shirts, possibly beating the record set by Jordan.
