Istanbul / Ahmed Hassan / Anadolu

Sotheby's auction house in New York announced on Thursday the sale of the jersey worn by Brazilian football legend Pele in the 1958 World Cup final for $4.88 million, making it the second most expensive football shirt sold at auction.

The auction house said Pele wore the number 10 jersey when he was 17 years old, leading Brazil to a 5-2 victory over hosts Sweden in Stockholm, securing their first World Cup title after scoring two goals in the final match.

It added that the jersey ranked second on the list of most expensive football shirts sold at auctions, behind the jersey of Argentine Diego Maradona, which he wore when he scored his famous "Hand of God" goal for Argentina against England in the 1986 World Cup, sold for $9.3 million in 2022.

Pele, who died in 2022 at the age of 82, remains the youngest player to score in a World Cup final, a record he has held since the 1958 edition.

According to the jersey's ownership documents, Pele gave the jersey after the match to his teammate Dida, who later entrusted it to his family in the city of Maceió, Alagoas state, where it remained in the possession of his brother Edson Santa Rosa between 1958 and 1992.

In 1993, sports journalist Lauthenay Perdigão founded the "Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa" sports museum in Maceió in honor of Dida, who donated the jersey to the museum in appreciation of its historical value, making it its most prominent exhibit and displayed to visitors daily.

In September 2004, the jersey was offered at an auction organized by Christie's, after its then-owner fully documented its ownership history, before it disappeared from public display for more than two decades.