A collection of World Cup memorabilia, featuring Pelé’s 1958 winners’ medal, is anticipated to fetch in excess of £2 million at an upcoming auction.
The prestigious medal, awarded to the legendary footballer during his teenage years, is expected to command up to £500,000 on its own. Brazil won 5-2 in the final against host Sweden at Rasunda Stadium near Stockholm.
This month, over 450 lots will go under the hammer, including the iconic jersey worn by goalkeeper Peter Shilton at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, and the shirt donned by Gordon Banks when he made his famous save against Pelé in 1970.
The auction also boasts items from England’s triumphant 1966 World Cup campaign, such as Banks’ own winners’ medal and Alan Ball’s shirt from the final match.
Organised by sports memorabilia specialists BUDDS, the sale is projected to exceed £2 million in total, following "strong interest" from collectors globally.
David Convery, head of sporting memorabilia at BUDDS, said: “This is the largest collection of World Cup memorabilia ever offered at auction, and it is difficult to imagine many sales that could rival it in terms of historical significance.
“Individual items such as Pele’s World Cup winner’s medal, Gordon Banks’ shirt from the Save of the Century or Peter Shilton’s jersey from the Hand of God match would normally be headline attractions on their own.
“To see them all appearing in a single sale is extraordinarily rare.
“These are pieces of football history connected to moments that millions of people feel emotionally attached to, even if they weren’t born at the time – whether that’s the euphoria of 1966 or the agony of the Hand of God goal.
“Opportunities to acquire objects of this calibre and historical importance don’t come along very often.”
An online auction is running from 1 to 21 June featuring shirts from the nations competing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, before a live sale on 25 June at BUDDS’s Wellingborough auction rooms.
Separately, a jersey worn by Brazilian icon Pele at the 1958 World Cup is expected to fetch more than $6 million at auction. The blue, short-sleeved No. 10 jersey will be featured in an online auction from 29 June to 16 July.
"This is not merely a shirt -- it is the garment worn by one of the greatest footballers in history on the night his reign began," Brahm Wachter, head of Sotheby's modern collectibles, said in a statement.
With an estimated value of more than $6 million, The Athletic reported it would become the most valuable piece of memorabilia belonging to the only man to win the World Cup trophy three times (1958, 1962 and 1970).
The current record for the highest price paid for a soccer jersey was the $9.28 million spent on a Diego Maradona jersey in 2022.
