Pope Francis says he asked Diego Maradona about the “Hand of God,” perhaps the most famous illegal goal ever scored in a soccer match, as he welcomed a soccer player from his home country to the Vatican, Reuters reported.

The sovereign pontiff made the revelation in an autobiographical book, “Life – My Story Through History,” which he co-authored with Italian journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona, to be published by HarperCollins next Tuesday.

Pope Francis touches on many topics in the 230-page book, including controversial moments of his pontificate, such as the Vatican’s decision in December to approve blessings for same-sex couples.

He also talks about his recent health problems, joking that some of his conservative critics “may have hoped” he would resign like his predecessor, but that such a gesture was out of the question because “there are a lot of projects” that he wants complete.

Francis, the first Latin American Pope, also talks in his autobiographical book about the “Hand of God” goal scored by his compatriot Diego Maradona in the quarter-finals of the 1986 World Cup against England.

“I jokingly asked him: ‘So which hand is to blame?'” Pope Francis recalled his meeting with the football player.

Maradona said that the “hand of God” brought the Pope to Argentina

The sovereign pontiff welcomed Maradona to the Vatican in 2016 after he played in a charity match organized by the Holy See.

Then the Argentine football player said that he distanced himself from the church, “but Francis brought me back.”

Two years earlier, Maradona played in the first charity match organized by the Vatican, telling a press conference at the time that “everyone in Argentina remembers the ‘Hand of God’ against England in the 1986 World Cup.” country, my “Hand of God” brought us an Argentine Pope.”

“We must all behave like Pope Francis. If each of us gave something to someone else, no one in the world would die of hunger,” said the Argentine football player.

Diego Maradona died in November 2020 at the age of 60.