FIFA World Cup Trophy

The FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup takes place every four years since 1930 and the winner of the tournament gets the World Cup trophy. The number of teams participating in each tournament gradually increased from 13 in 1930 to 32 in 2014.

Old Trophy (Jules Rimet Trophy)

The World Cup trophy also changed from the one that was originally awarded since 1930. Known as the Jules Rimet Trophy, it was named after the third FIFA president, Jules Rimet. The trophy was made of gold plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli and depicted the goddess of victory, Nike. The beautiful trophy was designed by Abel Lafleur. The trophy was nicknamed as the ‘Golden Goddess’ and the final holders of this trophy were Brazil in 1970.

In 1983, the original Jules Rimet Trophy got stolen and has not been recovered yet.

New Trophy (FIFA World Cup Trophy)

In 1974, a new trophy was introduced to replace the older one, the one which is used till date. Known as the ‘FIFA World Cup Trophy’, it is made of 18 carat gold and a malachite base. Its height is 36.8 centimeters and it weighs 6.1 kilograms. The trophy depicts two human figures holding the planet Earth.

The trophy was designed by an Italian sculptor named Silvio Gazzaniga. After his success with this trophy, he was given the honour to design the UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup as well. The names of the winning countries are engraved at the bottom of the trophy and can hold the names of the winners upto the 2038 FIFA World Cup.

The winners of this trophy do not get the trophy to keep until the next tournament, but instead get a gold plated bronze replica of the same. The original trophy is kept at the FIFA World Football Museum which is in Zurich.

Here are the winners of the trophies:

Jules Rimet Trophy

FIFA World Cup Trophy

Brazil has won the FIFA World Cup five times which is the most by any country. Germany and Italy have won four times each.