FIFA World Cup Trophy

Lore & Background

The first trophy, originally named Victory, but renamed in honor of FIFA president Jules Rimet, was made of gold plated sterling silver and a lapis lazuli base. It depicted Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Brazil was awarded the trophy in perpetuity following their third title in 1970, prompting the commissioning of a replacement. The original Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen in 1983 and has never been recovered. The subsequent trophy, called the 'FIFA World Cup Trophy', was introduced in 1974. Made of 18 karat gold with bands of malachite on its base, it stands 36.8 centimetres (14.5 in) high and weighs 6.175 kilograms (13.61 lb). The trophy was made by the GDE Bertoni company in Italy. It depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. The current holders of the trophy are Spain, winners of the 2026 World Cup. The trophy is kept at the FIFA World Football Museum in Zürich, Switzerland, and leaves there only on select occasions. Only a selected few are officially allowed to touch the trophy with bare hands, including players and managers who have won the competition, heads of state, and FIFA officials.

In Their Own Story

The night of the 1998 final in Saint-Denis, the stadium lights hummed with a low, electric buzz that you could feel in your teeth. The trophy sat on a velvet-draped stand at centre circle, wrapped in plastic, waiting. When France won, the plastic was peeled back in slow motion, and the gold caught the floodlights and threw it back at the crowd like a second sun. Zinedine Zidane, quiet as ever, lifted it with both hands, and for a heartbeat the noise simply stopped — not silence, but a held breath, a collective inhalation of 80,000 people who understood they were watching something that would be replayed in living rooms for a generation. Then the noise came back, and the confetti started falling like gold snow, and the trophy disappeared into the arms of a thousand hands, each one wanting to feel the weight of it, the real, solid, 18-carat weight of winning the world.

Reader's Guide

The Jules Rimet Trophy was the original trophy of the FIFA World Cup. Originally called 'Victory', it was renamed in 1946 to honour the FIFA President Jules Rimet. It was designed by French sculptor Abel Lafleur and made of gold-plated sterling silver on a lapis lazuli base. It stood 35 centimetres (14 in) high and weighed 3.8 kilograms (8.4 lb). It comprised a decagonal cup, supported by a winged figure representing Nike, the ancient Greek goddess of victory. The first team to be awarded the trophy was Uruguay, the winners of the 1930 World Cup. During World War II, the trophy was held by 1938 champion Italy. Ottorino Barassi secretly transported the trophy from a bank in Rome and hid it in a shoe-box under his bed to prevent the Nazis from taking it. On 20 March 1966, the trophy was stolen during a public exhibition at Westminster Central Hall. It was found seven days later wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge in Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, south London, by a black and white collie dog named Pickles. As a security measure, the Football Association secretly manufactured a replica of the trophy for use in exhibitions. This replica was sold at an auction in 1997 for £254,500, when it was purchased by FIFA. Testing by FIFA confirmed the auctioned trophy was a replica. The Brazilian team won the tournament for the third time in 1970, allowing them to keep the real trophy in perpetuity. On 19 December 1983, the trophy was stolen again. The trophy has never been recovered. Only one piece of the Jules Rimet Trophy has been found, the original base, which FIFA had kept in a basement of the federation's Zürich headquarters prior to 2015. A replacement trophy was commissioned by FIFA for the 1974 World Cup. Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga was awarded the commission. The trophy stands 36.5 centimetres (14.4 in) tall and is made using 5.0 kilograms (11.0 lb) of 18 karat (75%) gold. Its base is 13 centimetres (5.1 in) in diameter containing two layers of malachite which adds another 1.175 kilograms (2.59 lb) to the total weight. Produced by GDE Bertoni in Paderno Dugnano, it depicts two human figures holding up the Earth. The trophy has the engraving 'FIFA World Cup' on its base. After the 1994 FIFA World Cup, a plate was added to the bottom side of the trophy where the names of winning countries are engraved. The plate is replaced each World Cu

Did You Know?

• The Jules Rimet Trophy was originally named 'Victory'.
• The current trophy is made of 18 karat gold with malachite bands.
• The trophy was stolen in 1966 and found by a dog named Pickles.
• Only a few people are allowed to touch the trophy with bare hands.