Blaise Matuidi looked at Kylian Mbappé's jersey from the 2018 World Cup final and remembered the rain. "It was a good rain," he said. "We had time to slide on the pitch and enjoy that moment together." That shirt — worn during one of France's defining nights — is now sitting in a pop-up exhibit in New York, and it's not the only one worth stopping for.
Dutch company MatchWornShirt has assembled a three-day collection of game-worn jerseys from some of the most recognisable moments in World Cup history, running through Sunday. Diego Maradona's shirt from the 1990 match against the Soviet Union, sourced from an Italian collector. Marco Tardelli's jersey from the 1982 final against West Germany — the one he was wearing when he scored and ran screaming across the pitch in one of football's most replicated celebrations. Robin van Persie's kit from that diving header against Spain in 2014.
The jerseys you can actually bid on
The exhibit isn't purely retrospective. MatchWornShirt works with over 20 nations competing in this World Cup — including all three hosts: the United States, Mexico, and Canada — and as soon as matches kick off, fans can bid on jerseys in real time. The company signed an exclusive deal with US Soccer in May 2025 to auction off game-worn men's and women's national team shirts, so American collectors have a direct pipeline to this tournament's history as it happens.
The broader context matters here. The World Cup runs through July 19 across the US, Mexico, and Canada, with 48 teams and 104 matches. That's a lot of shirts. The secondary market for game-worn football kits in America has grown sharply in recent years, and MatchWornShirt — which already has agreements with over 300 clubs and national teams, including Champions League winners PSG — is clearly betting this tournament accelerates that trend further.
Founder Bob Zonderwijk flagged the scenario that would make the auction market genuinely electric: "If Ronaldo were to reach the final and potentially win his first World Cup, that would be a huge moment." A Ronaldo winner's medal jersey would break records. It would also require Portugal to go all the way, which is far from a given — but at the current odds, it's not a price you'd dismiss outright either.
Matuidi, who won it all with France in 2018, said his own shirt from that night is still at home. Some things aren't for sale.
