FIFA World Cup Trophy — The Full History
From the Jules Rimet trophy — stolen in England, stolen again in Brazil and never recovered — to the current 18-carat gold masterpiece that has been lifted 13 times since 1974. The story of the most recognisable object in world sport.
The Jules Rimet Trophy (1930–1970)
The first World Cup trophy was commissioned by FIFA president Jules Rimet — after whom it was eventually named — for the inaugural tournament in Uruguay in 1930. The French sculptor Abel Lafleur designed it: a winged Nike, the goddess of victory, holding up an octagonal cup. The base was made of lapis lazuli, the figure of solid gold-plated sterling silver. It stood 35 centimetres tall and weighed 3.8 kilograms.
During the Second World War, the trophy disappeared — or more precisely, was hidden. With Nazi Germany occupying much of Europe and FIFA officials in multiple occupied countries, Italian vice-president Ottorino Barassi reportedly concealed the trophy under his bed in Rome, wrapped in a shoebox, to prevent it being melted down by occupying forces or looted. It survived the war intact and the 1950 tournament proceeded as planned.
The first theft came in March 1966. The trophy was on public display at a stamp exhibition at Westminster Central Hall in London, four months before England hosted the World Cup. A Sunday morning visit to the exhibition returned the display case to reveal the trophy was gone. Scotland Yard launched one of the highest-profile criminal investigations in British sporting history. The trophy was found a week later by a black-and-white mongrel dog named Pickles, who sniffed out a brown paper parcel beneath a hedge in Norwood, South London. Pickles became briefly famous; his owner received a £6,000 reward.
Brazil won the trophy outright in 1970 — FIFA rules at the time stated that the first nation to win three World Cups would keep the trophy permanently. Brazil's third victory in Mexico duly transferred the Jules Rimet trophy to the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, where it was put on display. In December 1983, it was stolen from the CBF headquarters and has never been recovered. The most enduring theory is that it was melted down almost immediately by the thieves. Brazil had a replica made; the original is presumed gone forever.
The FIFA World Cup Trophy — 1974 to Present
With Brazil permanently keeping the Jules Rimet, FIFA commissioned a replacement in time for the 1974 tournament in West Germany. They received 53 designs from artists in seven countries and selected the work of Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga. His design depicts two human figures with arms raised, supporting a globe. The base is made of malachite — a vivid green banded stone — in two rings. The primary material is 18-carat gold.
The trophy stands 36.8 centimetres tall and weighs 6.175 kilograms. Unlike the Jules Rimet, FIFA retains permanent ownership: no country wins it outright regardless of how many times they are world champions. The winning nation receives a gold-plated bronze replica — an exact copy in appearance but not composition — that they keep. The original trophy is kept by FIFA at its headquarters in Zurich under strict security, transported only for official engagements and World Cup events.
The base panels — there are two rows — bear the names of each winning nation in engraved text. There is room for approximately 13 more sets of winners' names before the current trophy runs out of space. FIFA has acknowledged that a decision will need to be made before that point, though no formal timeline or design competition has been announced.
The trophy is never allowed to leave FIFA's direct control. When travelling to opening ceremonies or host nation events, it is accompanied by a dedicated security team. The original cannot be touched by members of the public — only heads of state and World Cup winners are permitted to hold the actual trophy. Everyone else who appears to be holding it in photographs is holding the gold-plated replica.
Who Gets to Lift It — And What Happens Next
The World Cup final trophy lift is one of football's most choreographed moments. The winning captain receives the trophy from the FIFA president on the presentation podium. The golden confetti fires, the players parade the pitch, and the image of that moment becomes the defining photograph of the tournament. The actual trophy is then returned to FIFA custody within hours of the ceremony.
The winning association receives their gold-plated replica and retains it until the next World Cup cycle. The replica may be displayed, toured, and used for promotional purposes without restriction. Most associations have held extensive domestic trophy tours — the 2022 Argentina replica was displayed at over 30 venues across the country to crowds totalling millions.
The trophy base panels of the current design list: West Germany (1974), Argentina (1978), Italy (1982), Argentina (1986), West Germany (1990), Brazil (1994), France (1998), Brazil (2002), Italy (2006), Spain (2010), Germany (2014), France (2018), Argentina (2022). At WC2026, one more name will be added to the panels of the most coveted object in world football.
World Cup 2026 — Who Lifts the Trophy in New York?
The 2026 final is scheduled for MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey — the de facto New York World Cup final. The 82,000-capacity venue will host what FIFA expects to be the most-watched sporting event in television history, broadcast to an estimated 5 billion viewers globally.
Argentina enter as defending champions. Brazil, France, England and Germany are the bookmakers' other favourites. The expanded 48-team format means more shocks, more paths to the final, and a greater chance of an unexpected finalist — perhaps Morocco, who reached the semi-finals in 2022, or the USA playing on home soil for the first time since 1994.
Whoever lifts the FIFA World Cup trophy in July 2026, they will hold the same 6.1-kilogram gold object that West Germany's Franz Beckenbauer first raised in Munich in 1974. The names beneath their fingers will be different — but the object is unchanged.
