Lionel Messi 2022 World Cup Match-Worn Shirt Set

Thirty-six years of waiting

Argentina had won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986 and lost finals in 1930, 1990 and 2014. Messi, born June 24, 1987, had won the Golden Ball in 2014 but lost that final, then lost Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016 and briefly retired from the national team. Under coach Lionel Scaloni, Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in the 2021 Copa America final, Messi's first senior international title, then beat Italy in the 2022 Finalissima. They arrived in Qatar on a 36-match unbeaten run and among the favorites.

Qatar was a World Cup unlike any before it: the first in the Middle East, and the first played in November and December, to avoid the summer heat. It ran from November 20 to December 18, 2022, with 64 matches in eight stadiums across five cities, and it was the last with 32 teams. Messi was 35 and playing in his fifth World Cup.

Six shirts, six matches

The run began with a shock. On November 22 at Lusail Stadium, Messi scored a penalty against Saudi Arabia, Argentina had several goals ruled offside, and then Saudi Arabia scored twice in five minutes after halftime to win 2-1. The first shirt in the set comes from that match. Four days later, also at Lusail, Messi scored from long range and set up Enzo Fernandez as Argentina beat Mexico 2-0. That is the second shirt.

Argentina beat Poland 2-0 on November 30, despite a first-half penalty miss by Messi, to win Group C. The Poland shirt is not in the set. On December 3, Messi scored his first-ever World Cup knockout-stage goal in a 2-1 win over Australia. On December 9 he converted a penalty as Argentina led the Netherlands 2-0, only for Wout Weghorst to score twice late and force extra time; goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez saved the first two Dutch penalties and Argentina won the shootout 4-3. On December 13, Messi scored a penalty and set up Julian Alvarez in a 3-0 semifinal win over Croatia.

Each shirt in the set is the one Messi wore in the first half of its match. The sources consulted do not say what became of his second-half shirts.

December 18, 2022: the final

The final against defending champion France was played at Lusail Stadium on Qatar's National Day before 88,966 spectators, with Polish referee Szymon Marciniak in charge. Messi put Argentina ahead with a 23rd-minute penalty after Angel Di Maria was fouled, and Di Maria made it 2-0 in the 36th minute. That first half, the one this set's last shirt was worn for, was Argentina's in every way: France did not attempt a shot on goal until the 80th minute.

Then Kylian Mbappe scored twice in 97 seconds to make it 2-2. Messi scored again in the 108th minute of extra time; Mbappe answered with a penalty in the 118th to complete the first hat-trick in a men's World Cup final since Geoff Hurst in 1966. Martinez saved from Randal Kolo Muani with his left leg in the last seconds. In the shootout Messi scored first for Argentina, Martinez saved from Kingsley Coman, Aurelien Tchouameni missed, and Gonzalo Montiel scored the winner for a 4-2 shootout victory.

It was Argentina's third World Cup and first since 1986. Messi was named man of the match and won the Golden Ball for the second time, the first player to do so, after seven goals and three assists in the tournament. A record 1.5 billion people watched the final on television, and it is widely ranked among the greatest matches ever played.

To auction in New York

Messi announced the sale himself on November 20, 2023, exactly a year after the tournament opened: 'Six World Cup shirts. One auction.' The shirts were consigned by a tech startup, a company of investor Alexis Ohanian's that helps athletes manage their memorabilia. Part of the proceeds was pledged to the UNICAS Project, led by Sant Joan de Deu Barcelona Children's Hospital with the support of the Leo Messi Foundation, for children with rare diseases.

The set was offered as one lot, open for online bidding from November 30 to December 14, 2023, and shown to the public in New York during the sale. The estimate was in excess of $10 million, and an anonymous bid of $5.2 million was posted early. The specialist running the sale pointed to photo matching, the comparison of high-resolution game photographs with unique features of a garment, as a driver of prices for match-worn shirts.

Bidding closed on December 14, 2023, at $7.8 million including buyer's premium, after three bids, to an anonymous buyer. It was the highest price for any Messi memorabilia, far above the $450,000 paid in 2022 for the Barcelona shirt he wore in a 2017 El Clasico, and the most for any sports memorabilia at auction that year. It fell short of the estimate, the $9.28 million paid for Diego Maradona's 1986 'Hand of God' shirt and the $10.1 million paid for Michael Jordan's 1998 NBA Finals Game 1 jersey.

Why a set

Most famous match-worn shirts are single objects tied to a single moment. This lot was sold as a narrative: one shirt for each stage of the run, from the loss to Saudi Arabia that nearly ended it to the first half of the final. Only the Poland match is missing from the seven Argentina played.

The sale capped a short stretch in which match-worn shirts moved to the top of the sports memorabilia market. Maradona's shirt, worn by another Argentina captain on the way to the country's previous title in 1986, had sold for a record in May 2022, and the Jordan jersey had passed it that September. The year Messi's set sold, he had also won his eighth Ballon d'Or, moved to Inter Miami of Major League Soccer and been named Time magazine's Athlete of the Year.

The numbers

2022 World Cup

7 matches, 7 goals, 3 assists; Golden Ball

vs Saudi Arabia, Nov. 22

Lost 1-2; Messi 1 goal (penalty)

vs Mexico, Nov. 26

Won 2-0; Messi 1 goal, 1 assist

vs Australia, Dec. 3 (round of 16)

Won 2-1; Messi 1 goal (35')

vs Netherlands, Dec. 9 (quarterfinal)

2-2 after extra time, won 4-3 on penalties; Messi 1 goal (73', penalty) and a shootout goal

vs Croatia, Dec. 13 (semifinal)

Won 3-0; Messi 1 goal (34', penalty), 1 assist

vs France, Dec. 18 (final)

3-3 after extra time, won 4-2 on penalties; Messi 2 goals (23' penalty, 108') and a shootout goal; man of the match

Final attendance

88,966 at Lusail Stadium

Timeline

1. Jun 24, 1987

   Lionel Messi is born.

2. 2014

   Messi wins his first World Cup Golden Ball, but Argentina loses the final.

3. 2021

   Argentina beats Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America final, Messi's first senior international title.

4. Nov 20, 2022

   The World Cup opens in Qatar, the first held in the Middle East and the first in November and December.

5. Nov 22, 2022

   Shirt 1: Argentina loses 2-1 to Saudi Arabia; Messi scores a penalty.

6. Nov 26, 2022

   Shirt 2: Argentina beats Mexico 2-0; Messi scores and assists.

7. Nov 30, 2022

   Argentina beats Poland 2-0; Messi misses a penalty. This shirt is not in the set.

8. Dec 3, 2022

   Shirt 3: Argentina beats Australia 2-1; Messi scores his first World Cup knockout goal.

9. Dec 9, 2022

   Shirt 4: Argentina draws the Netherlands 2-2 and wins the shootout 4-3; Messi scores a penalty.

10. Dec 13, 2022

    Shirt 5: Argentina beats Croatia 3-0; Messi scores and sets up Julian Alvarez.

11. Dec 18, 2022

    Shirt 6: the final against France ends 3-3; Argentina wins the shootout 4-2. Messi scores twice plus his shootout kick and wins the Golden Ball.

12. Nov 20, 2023

    Messi announces the auction of six of his World Cup shirts.

13. Nov 30, 2023

    Online bidding opens; an anonymous $5.2 million bid is posted early.

14. Dec 14, 2023

    The set sells for $7.8 million on three bids, a record for Messi memorabilia.

The world in 2022

• Feb 24, 2022

  Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• Jul 11, 2022

  The first operational image from the James Webb Space Telescope is released.

• Sep 8, 2022

  Queen Elizabeth II dies at Balmoral at 96; Charles III becomes king.

• Nov 15, 2022

  The world population reaches about 8 billion.

• Nov 30, 2022

  OpenAI releases ChatGPT.

• Dec 18, 2022

  A record 1.5 billion people watch the World Cup final on television.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Lionel Messi 2022 World Cup Match-Worn Shirt Set is number 8 of 100 in the memorabilia entries of the FLOAT 100. 100 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (7 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Messi wore every shirt in the set for a first half only.
• The set includes the shirt from Argentina's shock 2-1 opening loss to Saudi Arabia.
• Messi announced the auction himself, a year to the day after the 2022 World Cup kicked off.
• Only three bids were placed on the lot, and it sold below its estimate of more than $10 million.
• Argentina became only the second team to win the World Cup after losing its opening match, after Spain in 2010.
• Messi's 2022 Golden Ball made him the first player to win the award twice.