At the end of the World Cup, one captain lifts a small golden trophy, and it becomes the most coveted object in the sport. The prize itself has a surprisingly turbulent history — theft, retirement, and a deliberate redesign — and knowing it adds a little weight to the moment it is next raised.
Two trophies, one dream
There have, in effect, been two World Cup trophies. The original was awarded for decades, until a rule allowed a nation that won the tournament a set number of times to keep it permanently — which one eventually did, retiring the first trophy into that country’s possession. A new trophy was then commissioned for all the World Cups that followed, and it is this second design that champions lift today.
The original trophy’s story took a dramatic turn beyond the pitch: it was famously stolen at least once, sparking frantic searches, and its ultimate fate became the stuff of football folklore. Few sporting prizes have led such an eventful life away from the field.
A design of triumph
The current trophy was designed to capture the very idea of victory: figures rising in celebration, holding up the world, cast in gold. Unlike its predecessor, it is not given away permanently — the winning nation holds it, then returns it before the next tournament, receiving a replica to keep. The trophy itself is passed from champion to champion, a single object that has been touched by the greatest teams in the sport’s modern history.
That continuity is the point. When a captain lifts it, he is holding the same prize that generations of champions before him held — a physical thread running through the whole history of the tournament.