Estimated at £70,000-140,000, it had already attracted an online bid of £120,000 in advance of being offered from the rostrum. The final price surpassed the previous record – the £220,000 hammer price set by Stanley Matthews's 1953 F.A. Cup Final winner's medal that sold at a Graham Budd auction in November 2014.
The sale of Pelé’s collection, which was conducted by Los Angeles-based firm Julien's Auctions and took place at London’s Mall Galleries, had already offered the player’s two earlier World Cup medals.
His winner’s medal from the 1958 World Cup, where Pelé made his name as a 17-year-old and became the youngest ever World Cup goal scorer at 17 years and 239 days, fetched £160,000 – now the joint-third highest price for any football medal. Pelé’s 1962 World Cup winner's medal made £110,000.
The 1970 Brazil national football team is widely regarded as one of, if not the, greatest international football teams ever. Pelé scored the opening goal in the 18th minute of the World Cup final versus Italy, which was held in the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, paving the way for Brazil's 4-1 victory and to the country's third World Cup title.
In winning the 1970 World Cup, Pelé became the only football player in history to win the World Cup three times, and he was awarded the Golden Ball as player of the tournament.
For the auction of the Pelé collection, Julien's Auctions produced a limited edition catalogue of which 500 box sets signed by the Brazilian legend were offered at $1000 each with proceeds going to the Children’s hospital, Pequeno Príncipe.
The three-day sale of Pelé’s vast collection of memorabilia was by far the most lucrative single-owner football auction ever staged.
The top price of the auction overall came for a special replica of the Jules Rimet Trophy which was made for Pelé after the 1970 World Cup.
Estimated at £280,000-420,000, the trophy was taken to £320,000 at which point the winning bid was placed on behalf of the Swiss watch makers Hublot, one of the 75-year-old ex-player’s corporate partners.
