Pele’s World Cup Shirt sells for $4.9m
The shirt worn by Brazil football icon Pele when he scored two goals to bring his team to victory in the World Cup final of 1958 has sold for $4.9m.
Sotheby’s said on Thursday that the shirt has become the most expensive piece of Pele memorabilia ever sold.
Pele, who died in 2022, was 17 when he scored twice in Brazil’s 5-2 win over hosts Sweden in the final. He was, and remains, the youngest player to score in a World Cup final. That game secured Brazil its first World Cup victory.
Pele, whose real name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, went on to become one of Brazil’s – and the entire footballing world’s – most iconic players.
The images of the 1958 World Cup final have become “some of the most reproduced in the history of the sport”, Sotheby’s said, adding: “This shirt was there.”
The shirt had previously sold at auction in 2004 for 70,505 pounds ($105,600), according to Sotheby’s.
Main Image: Courtsey Sotheby's