Pele's 1958 Brazil World Cup Victory Jersey Sells for 7.3 Billion Won at Auction

1958 Final Jersey from Brazil's First World Cup Victory
Second Only to Maradona's 'Hand of God' Uniform in Auction Price Rankings

The uniform worn by "The King of Football" Pele when he led Brazil to its first-ever World Cup victory in 1958 has been sold at auction for approximately 7.3 billion won.

Pele's uniform featured in the Sotheby's auction. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

On July 17th (Korean time), AFP reported, "Pele's jersey from the 1958 Sweden World Cup final was sold for 4.9 million dollars (about 7.26 billion won) at Sotheby's auction," and added, "It set the highest price ever for a Pele memorabilia." According to Sotheby's, more than five bidders participated, and the fierce competition lasted through 10 rounds before the jersey found a new owner.

The uniform auctioned was the one Pele wore as a 17-year-old during the 1958 Sweden World Cup final, where he scored two goals against Sweden and led Brazil to its first title. In this match, Pele set the records for the youngest player and the youngest goalscorer in a World Cup final, both of which remain unbroken to this day.

After the final, Pele gifted the jersey to his teammate Dida. Dida's family later kept the jersey before donating it to a sports museum in Rio de Janeiro, which sold it at a Christie's auction in 2004 for 105,600 dollars (about 156 million won). Since then, the value has soared nearly 50-fold over about 22 years.

Brendan Hawks, head of sports at Sotheby's, told ESPN, "This shirt is a piece of heritage that symbolizes one of the most important moments in football history, as well as the moment that cemented Pele as a global sports icon." He added, "It is especially meaningful to witness such great interest right before the World Cup final."

This winning bid marks the second-highest amount ever paid for a football jersey at auction. The record is held by Diego Maradona's jersey from the 1986 Mexico World Cup quarterfinal match against England—when he scored the 'Hand of God' goal—which was sold for 9.3 million dollars (about 13.78 billion won) in 2022.

Meanwhile, in this auction, the captain's armband worn by Maradona during the same 1986 World Cup was also sold for 512,000 dollars (about 760 million won).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.