A rare rookie card of Brazilian football icon Pelé stole the spotlight at a major football memorabilia auction held to coincide with the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, setting a new public auction record for the three-time World Cup winner.
The 1958 Alifabolaget Pelé rookie card sold for an astonishing $976,000 at Goldin’s 2026 Global Football Auction, making it the most expensive Pelé card ever sold at public auction. The sale narrowly fell short of the overall record for a Pelé card, which stands at $1.33 million following a private sale of another copy of the same card in 2022 — the first football card to surpass the $1 million mark.
ESPN reports that the auction also produced record-breaking sales for several modern stars, including Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Christian Pulisic and former England captain David Beckham.
A pair of Nike Air Zoom T90 III boots believed to have been worn by Messi during his senior debut for FC Barcelona on 16 October 2004 sold for $201,300, establishing a new public auction record for football boots. The sale came despite authentication experts only identifying a “possible” match and the signatures on the boots remaining unverified by an independent third-party authenticator.
Meanwhile, collectors showed strong demand for Haaland memorabilia, with a one-of-one 2019-20 Topps Chrome Bundesliga Autographs Superfractor card selling for $610,000. The figure eclipsed the previous record of $432,000 paid for the same card in 2021.
Pulisic also enjoyed a landmark sale as his one-of-one 2016-17 Panini Select Signatures Black Prizm card fetched $113,460, smashing his previous card record of $22,500 set in 2022. Another one-of-one autographed Pulisic card sold for $25,620 during the same auction.
Beckham’s popularity among collectors remained evident despite his retirement, with a one-of-one 2025 Panini Prizm FIFA Club World Cup Green Kaboom! card selling for $109,800 — more than four times his previous record card sale of $23,790 achieved last year.
The results underline the growing strength of the football collectibles market, with rare cards and match-worn memorabilia continuing to attract significant investment from collectors worldwide.
