Matthäus returns Maradona jersey from 1986 World Cup final

Matthäus, who swapped jerseys with Maradona at halftime of the final won by Argentina in México, returned the historic apparel at a ceremony at the Argentina Embassy in Madrid.

Former German football player Lothar Matthaus stands next to the show case featuring the shirt worn by Diego Maradona in the final of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, as it is unveiled, during an event at the Argentine Embassy in Madrid on Thursday. | Photo Credit: AP

The jersey Diego Maradona wore in the 1986 World Cup final was back in Argentine hands on Thursday thanks to German great Lothar Matthäus.

Matthäus, who swapped jerseys with Maradona at halftime of the final won by Argentina in México, returned the historic apparel at a ceremony at the Argentina Embassy in Madrid.

The shirt will be displayed at a new football museum in the Spanish capital.

“It was always a great honour to play against him,” Matthäus said of the late Maradona, through a translator.

“As a player and a person, he was always someone very important to me. He will always be in our hearts.”

Matthäus said he also exchanged jerseys with Maradona after the 1990 World Cup final won by the Germans in Italy. He said that shirt was in a museum in Germany.

The jersey Maradona wore against England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup, when he scored the controversial “Hand of God” goal, was sold for more than $9 million in an online auction by Sotheby’s in May, the highest price ever paid at auction for a piece of sports memorabilia.

Matthäus was given a plaque at the Argentina Embassy in recognition of his football career and contribution of sporting values.