Someone quickly bids $5.2MILLION for six match-worn Lionel Messi shirts, making the auction the third most expensive of all time and more expensive than ANY Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, or Babe Ruth memorabilia.

The first bid for six of Lionel Messi’s 2022 FIFA World Cup game-worn shirts was through the roof.

The Action Network said on Thursday that the price for the kits had been set at a huge $5.2 million. Adding the buyer’s premium to the price brings the total to $6.3m. 

The jerseys are being sold at Sotheby’s in New York City. Until the auction finishes on December 14, bids are likely to get a lot higher.

Bids for Messi’s kits are already higher than bids for game-worn jerseys that have already been won. Some of the pieces for sale are Kobe Bryant’s MVP shirt from the 2007–2008 season ($5.8m), Babe Ruth’s New York Yankees jersey from 1928–1930 ($5.6m), and LeBron James’ jersey from the 2013 NBA Finals Game 7 ($3.6m). 

Messi’s shirts might even fetch more than Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” jersey ($9.3m) and Michael Jordan’s 1998 NBA Finals jersey ($10.1m) when the auction is over.

The set comes with six shirts. Two of them were worn by Messi in the group stage, and the other four were worn in the Round of 16 quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final against France, which was his greatest moment.

Many people think Messi is the best soccer player of all time, and his win at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was the cherry on top of his impressive record.

Even though Argentina lost their first game to Saudi Arabia in a very embarrassing way, Messi led them back and all the way to winning the world cup. 

Messi scored seven goals and set up three others by the end of the event. He scored two goals in the heartbreaking final. 

Messi won the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player and the Silver Boot as the second-highest scorer behind France’s Kylian Mbappe. He also helped Argentina win their first World Cup since 1986. 

At the end of the World Cup, Messi left Europe to play in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami. Since then, he has helped the club win its first prize by winning the Leagues Cup. For his bravery in Qatar, he also won his eighth Ballon d’Or.