Pelé's shirt from the 1958 World Cup final sells for $4.9 million at New York auction

A shirt worn by football legend Pelé during Brazil’s victory in its first World Cup title in 1958 was sold at a public auction in New York on Thursday for $4.9 million, auction house Sotheby’s announced.

The player, who was 17 at the time, scored two of Brazil’s five goals against host nation Sweden (5-2), following their same-score semi-final win over France.

“King” Pelé, whose real name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, had gifted the shirt to his teammate and friend Dida during the 1958 final.

The shirt remained in Dida’s family for decades before being displayed in a museum, and was auctioned publicly for the first time in 2004 at an undisclosed price.

Sold after ten bids from five bidders to an anonymous buyer, the shirt became the second most expensive shirt in the world, according to Sotheby’s.

The record of $9.3 million still belongs to a shirt worn by Argentine Diego Armando Maradona on June 22, 1986, in Mexico City during the legendary quarter-final match against England.

Argentina won the match 2-1 thanks to two iconic goals scored by Maradona, one with his hand, later dubbed the “Hand of God,” and the other following a series of dazzling dribbles.