Argentina’s 2022 Celebration Trophy Replica and PSA 10 Lionel Messi Card Head to Auction

A replica trophy that spent nearly 45 minutes on the field with Argentina’s players during their 2022 championship celebration in Qatar is heading to auction, and it will be sold alongside a PSA 10 Lionel Messi trading card that captures Messi holding the same trophy. Richmond Auctions will offer the two pieces together on November 7 as the centerpieces of its Premier Sports Card & TCG Auction, marking the South Carolina auction house’s expansion into sports collectibles. The pairing connects a physical piece from Argentina’s post-match celebration with a trading card depicting that same object in Messi’s hands.

According to Richmond Auctions, the replica trophy made its way onto the field after the official post-match presentation ceremony and was passed among members of Argentina’s winning team for nearly 45 minutes. Players signed the trophy, and photographs and video documented it during the celebration. The auction house says its subsequent history, including an exhibition at an Argentine museum, is supported by notarial documentation, photographs and video, media coverage and exhibition records.

Accompanying the trophy is a 2022 Panini Instant Lionel Messi #118 FIFA World Cup Qatar trading card graded PSA 10 GEM MINT. The card shows Messi holding the replica during Argentina’s celebration, giving the lot an unusual direct link between a piece of memorabilia and the trading card that preserves the same moment.

Richmond Auctions says the trophy and Messi card will lead the November 7 sale, which represents its first major move into sports collectibles. The company was founded in 2021 by collectors Jordan Richmond and Mike McCandless and says it has surpassed $100 million in gross auction sales since then, building its business around advertising memorabilia, automobilia and petroliana before expanding into additional collecting categories.

The sports auction will extend well beyond the Messi pairing. Among the card highlights announced by Richmond are a 1916 M101-4 Gimbels “Shoeless” Joe Jackson #87 graded SGC 6, a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311 graded SGC 4.5 and a 2001-02 Upper Deck Michael Jordan Buybacks autograph numbered 1/10 and graded BGS 9.5 with a 9 autograph.

Modern cards in the sale include a 2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Pick Autographs Blue Wave Refractor Aaron Judge numbered to 50 and graded BGS 9.5, along with a 2020 Panini Contenders Championship Ticket Joe Burrow rookie autograph numbered to 49 and graded PSA 10. Richmond says the auction will also include autographed memorabilia and other sports collectibles.

Richmond’s sports debut follows its previous success in other collectible categories. The auction house points to the sale of a 1929 MusGo Gasoline porcelain sign for $1,552,500 including buyer’s premium, which it says established a world record for an antique advertising sign.

“Sports collectibles are a natural next step for Richmond Auctions,” said Jordan Richmond, Co-Founder of Richmond Auctions. “What drew us to this piece is the same point that draws us to exceptional collectibles across every category: rarity, provenance and a story that can’t be recreated. As collectors ourselves, that has been fundamental to how we’ve built Richmond Auctions, and it’s the same perspective we’re now bringing to sports collectibles.”

That provenance is what makes the Argentina trophy and Messi card pairing especially notable. The trophy is a replica rather than the official championship trophy, but Richmond says its documented presence on the field, its signatures and its appearance in Messi’s hands during the celebration give it a direct connection to one of the defining soccer moments of 2022. The PSA 10 Panini Instant card then preserves that connection in trading-card form.

The Premier Sports Card & TCG Auction will take place November 7 at Richmond Auctions in Greenville, South Carolina, with a public preview scheduled for November 6. Bidding will also be available online through Richmond Auctions.