As Pele was wrapping up his playing career in the mid-1970s with a New York Cosmos encore in the NASL, an Argentinian teenager with similar wizardry on the pitch was just getting started. Diego Maradona had yet to turn 16 when he made his professional debut in the Argentine First Division in 1976. He scored 115 goals in 167 games for Argentinos Juniors, all before his 21st birthday. His superstardom went global in 1982 when he played in his first World Cup for Argentina and transferred to famed Catalan club FC Barcelona. The 5' 5" attacking midfielder’s instincts, vision and deft passing combined with his quickness, dribbling skills and superior ball control left both fans and opponents in awe.

It was at the 1986 FIFA World Cup when Diego captained La Albiceleste to their second world title that his legend reached mythic proportions. His "Hand of God" goal in the Quarterfinals against England remains the most notorious goal in international soccer history. "El Pibe de Oro" (“The Golden Boy”) followed that up minutes later by dribbling through the entire English defense to score the "Goal of the Century" in front of 114,000 at Estadio Azteca. His fame on the pitch would later be met with much controversy off it, yet Diego Maradona shares the title with Pele as FIFA's “Player of the 20th Century.”

Featured here is an important 1986 Argentina National Team shirt worn by Maradona in preparation for his glorious 1986 World Cup run in Mexico.  Diego wore this #10 long-sleeved shirt in high-altitude training and South American tune-up matches leading up to the tournament. The all-blue style was intended for away games at the 1986 FIFA World Cup. After La Albiceleste arrived in Mexico City, players continued to train in these long-sleeved shirts and soon realized the climate was too warm to wear them in matches. An included letter of provenance from longtime Argentinian journalist Pablo Aro Geraldes explains this in detail.

At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Geraldes was producing a TV show and showed this shirt to Maradona who immediately recognized it as his own, saying “Ésta es la [camiseta] que usaba cuando volví a la selección para las eliminatorias y en Coapa [Ciudad de México distrito]. Eran asi de abrigadas y no las aguantamos en el calor de México…En un momento se dijo que ibamos a jugar con ellas. Menos mal que a Carlos Bilardo [Argentina gerente] se le ocurrió cambiarlas en el último minuto.”

“This is the shirt I used when I returned to the National Team for qualifiers and in Coapa [Mexico City district]. They were too warm, and we couldn't stand them in the heat of Mexico...At one point it was said that we were going to play with them. Thank goodness Carlos Bilardo [Argentina manager] thought of changing them at the last minute.”

The long-sleeved blue shirt is properly tagged inside the collar by French apparel manufacturer Le Coq Sportif, which supplied kits for Argentina, other national teams, and many professional clubs during that period. The company’s rooster logo appears on the right chest across from the AFA (Argentine Football Association) crest patch on the left chest. The crew neck and sleeve ends have white elastic trim. Maradona's iconic No. "10" is applied on the back in white suede with block letter outlines. The jersey exhibits a good amount of wear with evident pilling to the fabric. The “Hand of God” jersey auctioned for an eye-popping $9.28 million in 202. Here’s an incredible opportunity to own a historically significant Maradona shirt at a much more reasonable price tag. Comes with full authentication paperwork from MEARS verifying the size, style and level of usage. Additional LOP from the aforementioned Argentine journalist.