The football with which Diego Maradona scored his famous ‘hand of God’ goal at the 1986 World Cup has sold at auction for £2.5m.

Maradona famously punched the ball past goalkeeper Peter Shilton in Argentina’s 2-1 quarter-final win over England.

After the game, he told reporters it had been scored “a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God”.

Maradona later scored what became known as the ‘goal of the century’ in the same game, dribbling past five England outfield players before slotting the ball past Shilton.

Though it sold for $3.3m (£2.5m) at Heritage Auctions in the United States on Saturday, the ball had been expected to fetch nearer $10m (£7.3m).

Speaking to Reuters before the auction, Mike Provenzale, a specialist auctioneer at Heritage, said: “It’s a true one-of-one item. Arguably the most significant soccer item that exists.”

Tunisian Ali Bin Nasser, who refereed the match in 1986, collected the Adidas Azteca ball at full-time and kept it for more than three decades.

In 2023, he signed a letter to confirm it was the only ball used during the match, which has also been confirmed by further independent authentication.

Bin Nasser sold the ball in 2022 for $2.37m (£1.74m). Its new owner again put it up for auction in 2023 though it did not sell as bids did not meet the minimum value set.

The shirt worn by Maradona during the same match sold for £7.1m at auction in 2022.