Why The FIFA Trophy Represents a Country’s Soul
Discover The Incredible Journey And Evolution Of The Iconic FIFA World Cup Football Trophy.
✍️ By Shri Pradeep Trivedi
Author | Sports Analyst | Journalist
Freelance Writer | Author | Sports Analyst | Lecturer | Sports Journalist
English translation adapted from the original Gujarati article without changes to the content or experiences described by the author.
Who will win the “Trophy” in the FIFA World Cup 2026? This World Cup is now moving very fast towards the “Trophy”! Everyone is dreaming of this shining trophy. Before any team wins it, let us find out the exciting history of this beautiful dream trophy.
A trophy is not just a piece of gold, silver, or expensive metal to show off. A trophy is a wonderful and priceless gift. It shows continuous energy, passion, strong willpower, hard work, struggle, and dreams coming true. A trophy is the proud symbol of the great struggle of a person, a team, officials, and a country. Behind every trophy, there is a long history of many years, hard work, and the feelings of millions of fans. A trophy is the great pride of a priceless victory.
There are many different types of trophies given for different sports in the world. But the best trophy of all is the “FIFA World Cup Trophy.” It is the most famous and valuable trophy.
Since the beginning of the Football World Cup in 1930, the FIFA organisation has given a trophy to the world champion. But at the start, from 1930 to 1970, the trophy given was named the “Jules Rimet Trophy.” After that, from 1974 until today, the trophy given is the “FIFA World Cup Trophy.”
The Jules Rimet Trophy
The very first trophy given to the winner of the football World Cup Championship was named the “Jules Rimet” Trophy. Actually, the original name of the trophy was “Victory.” But later, it was named after the FIFA President, Jules Rimet, and it became the “Jules Rimet” Trophy. This Jules Rimet Trophy was made of gold-plated sterling silver and a blue lapis lazuli base. It showed Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. The design of this trophy was made by a famous French sculptor named Abel Lafleur.
In June 1930, this first historic trophy travelled on a ship from Villefranche-sur-Mer, just south-east of Nice. The football teams of France, Romania, and Belgium were also on that same ship, travelling to play in the first World Cup. This “Jules Rimet Trophy” was given to the host country, Uruguay, who became the first world champions.
The Trophy Hidden in a Shoebox
During the Second World War, the trophy was with Italy, who were the 1938 world champions. Back then, the rule was that whichever country became champion could keep the trophy until the next World Cup. Now, before the 1942 World Cup could happen, the Second World War started. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy were fighting. Hitler’s armies were stealing valuable things in Italy. So, during this time of war and stealing, Barassi, the Vice-President of the Italian Football Federation, was afraid that the trophy would be stolen or taken away. Even bank vaults were not safe at that time because bombs were being dropped on them.
To save the trophy in these conditions, Barassi secretly took the trophy out of the FIFA office one night. So that no one would suspect anything, he wrapped the trophy in newspaper and put it inside an old shoebox. Then, he hid the shoebox under his bed! He kept the trophy hidden in the shoebox until the war ended to save it. When the war ended, and the World Cup started again in Brazil in 1950, Barassi took out the priceless, valuable trophy, wrapped in dusty newspaper from under his bed, and handed it safely to the FIFA officials. If Barassi had not thought of this idea, what would have been the future of this trophy?
The Trophy Was Stolen… And…
The 1966 World Cup was going to be played in England. Four months before the World Cup started, on 20 March 1966, the trophy was put on public display at Westminster Central Hall. During this public exhibition, the golden trophy was stolen! For seven days, the whole world was shocked, and this news became the main headline in newspapers across the globe. Seven days later, it was found at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge in Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, South London. It was wrapped in newspaper!
And it was found by a normal dog looking for food! The dog was a black and white collie named Pickles. Because of this great deed, Pickles received a medal and a lifetime achievement award of free dog food for life!
The Trophy Stolen and Melted Down
In 1970, Brazil became world champions for the third time and set a new record. When the Jules Rimet Trophy was first given in the opening World Cup, it was decided that “whichever country becomes world champion three times will get to keep this trophy forever.” According to this rule, as Brazil won the World Cup title in 1958, 1962, and 1970, the Jules Rimet Trophy was given to them forever. Because of this, the trophy sat very proudly in the display case at the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) museum in Rio de Janeiro.
But on 19 December 1983, at 2:00 in the afternoon, four thieves quietly entered the CBF office. First, they showed a gun to the security guard and tied him up. They broke the alarm system. After that, they broke the glass of the display case and stole the trophy. This whole drama ended in just three minutes before anyone could even realise it, and the thieves vanished! The police searched hard to find the trophy after this, but they had no success.
The thieves cut the 1.8-kilogram pure gold trophy into small pieces, put it in a furnace, and melted it down! Finally, a main suspect named Sérgio Peralta was caught and went to jail. But no pieces or parts of the trophy were ever found.
After all their hard work to become world champions three times, Brazil lost their priceless trophy. Brazil now has a copy made by FIFA, which is kept in the museum. This trophy is also called the “Pelé Trophy” because Pelé gave the best performance to bring this historic pride to Brazil. FIFA had not insured the trophy, so they lost three million dollars.
History says that “it is harder to look after a trophy than it is to win it.”
After this, the “FIFA World Cup Trophy” came into existence. Since 1974, it is given to the world champion country for only one or two hours, and then it is taken back and a copy is given instead.
The “FIFA World Cup Trophy”
The FIFA World Cup Trophy has been given to the world champion country by the FIFA organisation since 1974. This trophy is the most famous and valuable trophy in the world of sports. Its value is estimated to be around 20 million dollars. This trophy is made of 18-carat pure gold. Its base has two layers. A valuable green stone called malachite is used in it, which was brought from the Malachite Valley in Italy. The height of this grand trophy is 14.5 inches or 36.8 centimetres, while its weight is 6.142 kilograms or 13.5 pounds. About 5 kilograms of gold is used in the trophy.
This trophy was made in Italy. The design of this trophy was created in 1971. The interesting thing is that 53 designs were considered for this “FIFA World Cup Trophy.” Out of those, the design by Silvio Gazzaniga, a famous sculptor from Milan, was chosen. His design looked very simple, beautiful, and powerful, so his design was selected. The design shows two players lifting their hands up and holding the round Earth. A trophy with this design is a “trophy that celebrates winning the whole world.”
Now, nothing is written on the base of this trophy. Before this, the winner’s name was written on the Jules Rimet Trophy. After the final match, this original trophy is given to the captain of the winning team on the stage. The captain lifts this trophy high up to celebrate the victory and take photos. This trophy can stay with the winning team for only one or two hours! After that, FIFA security guards take the trophy back. The original trophy never goes to the winner’s country! This trophy always stays safe in a bulletproof and tamper-proof glass display case at the FIFA headquarters in Switzerland.
The winning team is given a copy that looks exactly like the original trophy. This gold-plated copy is given to each of the 23 players, the coach, the staff, and every member of the team that won the World Cup. The football federation of the country also gets a larger copy.
Only three people can ever touch the original trophy. Yes, only three people! This includes the President of FIFA, the head of state of the country, and the captain of the winning team. During the final match, this original trophy is brought to the stadium using a secret route under the protection of four security guards with a GPS tracker attached to it. Right after the match ends and the trophy presentation ceremony is finished, it is taken straight back to the FIFA headquarters in Switzerland in an armoured car with armed guards. It is kept in a bank vault in Zurich or in the FIFA museum in a bulletproof and tamper-proof display case.
So now, “a trophy is something to show, not something to keep”!
“Beauty is to see not to touch.”
Acknowledgement:
Newz Daddy extends sincere thanks to Shri Pradeep Trivedi, author, sports analyst and journalist, for sharing his memorable FIFA World Cup journey from Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. We also appreciate the photographs and personal experiences that have enriched this article.
