27 Interesting Facts And Figures About The Prestigious World Cup Trophies That You Would Like To Know

27 Interesting Facts and Figures About the Prestigious World Cup Trophies that You Would Like to Know – Memorable Facts and Figures About the FIFA World Cup Trophies

One of the things that make many sporting competitions interesting is the different prizes that are being awarded to their athletes and the fame most of those athletes enjoy and benefit from.

Soccer or football is not an exception to this rule.

Different soccer championships attract different prizes and awards.

The most prestigious among them, which I am about to share with you, here, is the FIFA World Cup trophy, which is awarded every four years, by the Federation de Internationale de Football Association, FIFA, to the winners of its competitions.

In this article, I’ll share, with you, 27 facts and figures you would like to know about the first and the current FIFA World Cup prestigious trophies.

the first and the current World Cup trophies | 27 Interesting Facts and Figures About the Prestigious World Cup Trophies that You Would Like to Know — The first and the current World Cup trophies

Relax and enjoy those facts and figures.

27 Interesting Facts and Figures About the Prestigious World Cup Trophies that You Would Like to Know

The Federation Internationale de Football Association, FIFA, first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930, and the trophy that was awarded to the Uruguayans, in that year, was named after Jules Rimet, a French football administrator, the 3rd and the longest-serving President of FIFA.
The first World Cup trophy was originally named “Victory,” but was later renamed in 1946 to honor the FIFA President Jules Rimet, who in 1929, passed a vote to initiate the competition, hence its new name became “Jules Rimet Trophy.”
Jules Rimet Trophy, which was made of gold-plated sterling silver on a lapis lazuli base, was designed by French sculptor Abel Lafleur.
The Jules Rimet Trophy, which stood at 35 centimetres (14 inches) high and weighed 3.8 kilograms (8.4 lb), comprised of a decagonal cup, supported by a winged figure, representing ‘Nike,’ the ancient Greek goddess of victory.
Ottorino Barassi, the Italian vice-president of FIFA and President of Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, FIGC, Italian Football Federation, secretly transported the Jules Rimet Trophy, won by Italy in 1938, from a bank in Rome and hid it in a shoe-box under his bed to prevent the Nazis from taking it during the Second World War, WWII, which erupted in 1939 and lasted till 1945.
The base of the Jules Rimet Trophy was replaced in 1954 with a taller version to accommodate more winners’ details.
The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen on March 20, 1966, during a public exhibition at Westminster Central Hall, four months before the 1966 FIFA World Cup, held in England.

It was, however, found just seven days later, while wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge on Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, South London, by a black and white mongrel dog named Pickles.
Brazil won the Jules Rimet Trophy for keeps in perpetuity in 1970, having won it previously in 1958 and1962, prompting the commissioning of a replacement, as had been stipulated by Jules Rimet in 1930.
The original Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen for the second time on December 19, 1983, while in the custody of Brazil, who won it in 1970.

Since then the trophy has never been recovered. It is widely suspected or believed to have been melted down and sold.
Following the theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy, for the second time in 1983, the Confederation decidedly commissioned Eastman Kodak to make a replica of the stolen Jules Rimet Trophy.

The golden replica, which weighed 1.8 kilograms (4.0 lbs.), was presented to Brazilian military president João Figueiredo in 1984.
The second and current trophy known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, one of the most expensive trophies in sporting history, was introduced in 1974 after Brazil won the Jules Rimet Trophy for keeps in 1970.
After Brazil retained the right to keep the Rimet Cup as a result of winning it for the third time at the World Cup Final in Mexico in 1970, FIFA needed to create another trophy.

A jury of experts led by the then FIFA President, Sir Stanley Rous, convened on April 5, 1971, at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, for the purpose of forming a special committee that received the authorisation to put out to tender the request for a creator of a new Cup.
Fifty-three (53) designs for the proposed replacement were received by FIFA from 25 nations worldwide.
One of the 53 designs came from Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga, a staffer with an Italian company, Stabilimento Artistico Bertoni.

He was awarded the contract doing the job based on the sight, feel symbolic beauty, and photogenic quality of his design.

The Cup was immediately cast in gold and officially adopted by FIFA in January 1972.
The FIFA World Cup Trophy, made by Stabilimento Artistico Bertoni, depicts two human figures holding up the Earth.
Sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga described the trophy thus, “The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory”.
The new trophy, which stands at 36.5 centimetres (14.4 inches) tall, weighs 6.175 kilograms (13.61 lbs.) of 18 carats (75%) gold, with a base 13 centimetres (5.1 inches) in diameter, containing two layers of malachite.
The trophy has the engraving “FIFA World Cup” on its base, which is composed of two green malachite bands while the inner and underneath sections are inscribed with the names of the teams that have won the World Cup since 1974.
The contrasting panels are each inscribed with the language of the relative nation. The inscriptions state the year in figures and the name of the winning nation in its national language; for example, “1974 Deutschland” or “1994 Brasil”.
The name Spain was mistakenly written in English in 2010 when it won that year’s edition of the World Cup.

The mistake was later corrected and the English name, Spain, changed to its Spanish version, España.
After the 1994 FIFA World, hosted by the United States, a plate was added to the bottom side of the trophy on which the names of winning countries are engraved. The names are, however, not visible when the trophy is standing upright.
Before the 2006 World Cup held in Germany, the original FIFA World Cup was usually taken home and kept by the winning team at their national football association headquarters for 4 years, and returned to FIFA only after lots were drawn to decide on the opposing teams in the next edition.

But since the 2006 World Cup that was held in Germany, the original FIFA World Cup Trophy no longer goes home with its winning national team.

Instead, while the real FIFA World Cup Trophy resides permanently at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, after the usual festivities and fanfare to mark every edition of the World Cup championship, a bronze gold-plated replica is given to the FIFA World Cup winner, to go home with.

What this means, therefore, is that the winner of FIFA’s quadrennial World Cup Trophy no longer goes home with the original trophy, as FIFA seems not to trust anyone else to look after it.
Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have been used. The first one, known as the Jules Rimet Trophy, was used between 1930 and 1970, while the second one introduced in 1974, is still in use.
FIFA’s regulations now state that the World Cup Trophy, unlike its predecessor, cannot be won outright. The trophy will continue to be awarded as a prize until 2038 when all the available inscription spaces of the winning nations will be filled.
In the alternative of winning the World Cup Trophy for keeps, winners of the tournament would receive a bronze replica which is gold-plated rather than solid gold. This explains why Germany did not keep the current World Cup Trophy in 2014 when it won it for the third time.
While Brazil was the first country to win the Jules Rimet Trophy on three occasions: 1958, 1962, and 1970, Germany became the first nation to win the current FIFA World Cup Trophy three times: 1974, 1990, and 2014.
As of 2018, twelve winners have been engraved on the base. The plate is replaced each World Cup cycle and the names of the trophy winners are rearranged into a spiral to accommodate future winners.