The World Cup trophy: the story behind the gold

We talk endlessly about who'll lift the World Cup, but I've always thought the trophy itself deserves a moment. That gleaming gold figure the captain hoists at the end has a genuinely good backstory — one with two different trophies, a permanent gift to a footballing giant, and even a theft. Here's the short version, because knowing it makes the trophy lift hit a little harder.

The first one: the Jules Rimet Trophy

The original prize was named after Jules Rimet, the FIFA president who got the whole tournament off the ground back in 1930. For decades that was the trophy every nation chased. Then came a twist written into the rules: a country that won the World Cup three times would get to keep the original for good. Brazil, the most successful side in the sport's history, did exactly that — and so the first trophy was theirs permanently.

There's a sad coda to the original, mind you: it was later stolen and never recovered. A piece of football history simply vanished. That alone tells you how coveted these things are — the trophy isn't just metal, it's a symbol people will go to extraordinary lengths to possess.

The one we know today

With the original retired to Brazil, FIFA needed a new trophy, and the current FIFA World Cup Trophy was introduced in 1974. It was designed by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, and the shape is deliberate: two human figures rising up to hold the whole earth aloft. It's made of solid 18-carat gold, which is part of why it looks so impossibly rich under the floodlights. Once you know the design is meant to show players holding up the world, you can't unsee it.

You don't actually get to keep it

Here's a detail that surprises people. The winners don't take the real trophy home anymore. The captain lifts the genuine article in that iconic moment, but the champions are then presented with a gold-plated replica to keep, while the original stays in FIFA's care for the next cycle. So unlike the old Jules Rimet rules, no one wins this trophy permanently — it's passed on, world champions to world champions, every four years.

• ▪The first prize was the Jules Rimet Trophy, used from 1930
• ▪Win it three times and you kept it — which Brazil did
• ▪The original was later stolen and never found
• ▪The current trophy arrived in 1974, designed by Silvio Gazzaniga
• ▪Champions lift the real one but take home a replica

Why the object matters

Call it sentimental, but I love that there's so much history packed into a single trophy. When a captain raises it in 2026, that gold figure connects this brand-new, 48-team tournament all the way back to 1930 and every champion since. It's continuity you can hold in your hands — and that, to me, is exactly why the lift at the end gives me goosebumps every single time.