Diego Maradona's blue shirt from the 1986 World Cup quarter-final sold for $9.28 million at auction. The one he scored the Hand of God and Goal of the Century in. And according to a new documentary, it may have been bought from a street stall a couple of days before kick-off.
That's the story Manchester-born filmmaker Phidel McCabe has spent years chasing. His documentary, El Diez: Made in Tepito, digs into how Argentina's squad ended up wearing a shiny blue kit against England at the Azteca on June 22, 1986 — and why the numbers on those shirts were glittery.
Six days, no shirts, one market
The timeline is tight and chaotic in the best possible way. Argentina had already worn blue against Uruguay in Puebla, then exchanged shirts after the match — standard football courtesy, catastrophic planning. They needed blue again for the England quarter-final six days later and, by team accounts, former goalkeeper Hector Miguel Zelada suggested Tepito. He knew Mexico City from his time at Club America. He knew where to find things fast.
"They had to come up with something in two days," McCabe told Reuters. "They stitched on their own badges. They ironed on American football numbers. That's why the numbers are glittery. The whole thing feels like it could only happen in the '80s."
It does. And somehow that chaos produced the most expensive match shirt in football history.
A story about labour, not just legend
McCabe is honest about the uncertainty baked into this whole thing — even in Mexico City, people aren't sure the Tepito story is true. That ambiguity is part of what drove him to make it. The documentary isn't really a Maradona film. It's about the workers who may have made that shirt possible, and why their role in one of football's defining moments has gone uncelebrated for four decades.
Zapotec artist Ana Xhopa painted a mural for the documentary's promotion on Republica de Argentina street in central Mexico City, marking the 40th anniversary of the match. Her framing cuts straight to it: "It's not only FIFA, it's also local commerce; it's us Mexicans."
A jersey sourced from a 'pirate' market, worn by a player who scored a goal he handled in with his fist, at a tournament his country went on to win. The 1986 World Cup was never short of contradictions. This one just cost $9.28 million to unravel.
