It is the most coveted object in football — lifted through confetti once every four years, kissed by the greatest players who ever lived, chased by entire nations for generations. In July 2026 it went to Spain, whose 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina made them two-time world champions.
But the FIFA World Cup Trophy has a backstory most fans have never heard. It is not solid gold, despite what almost every article claims. No winning nation has ever been allowed to keep it. And the trophy that came before it was stolen twice — recovered the first time by a dog, and never seen again after the second.
Here is the full story of football's most famous prize.
What the Trophy Actually Is
Start with the most repeated myth. The trophy is made of 18-carat gold, but it is not solid gold — it is hollow. A genuinely solid gold sculpture of those dimensions would weigh somewhere in the region of 70 to 80 kilograms, far too heavy for a captain to hoist overhead.
What it actually weighs is 6.175 kg (about 13.6 lb), of which roughly 5 kg is gold. It stands 36.8 cm tall — around 14.5 inches, smaller in person than most people expect.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Height | 36.8 cm (14.5 in) |
| Weight | 6.175 kg (13.6 lb) |
| Material | 18-carat gold, hollow interior |
| Gold content | Approximately 5 kg |
| Base | 13 cm diameter, two bands of malachite |
| Designer | Silvio Gazzaniga (Italy) |
| First awarded | 1974 |
The base carries two layers of malachite, a deep green semi-precious stone that grounds the design and provides a deliberate flash of colour against all that gold.
The Design: Two Figures Holding Up the Earth
The trophy is not an abstract cup. It depicts two human figures rising upward and holding the Earth aloft — a flowing, spiralling form the sculptor described as capturing figures bursting upward in the ecstasy of victory.
It was created by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, from Milan, who won FIFA's design competition in 1971 — beating 53 submissions from seven countries. Every iconic World Cup-winning image of the past half-century features Gazzaniga's work: Maradona in 1986, Zidane in 1998, Messi in 2022, and now Spain's captain in 2026.
Nobody Gets to Keep It
Here is the fact that surprises people most: the team that wins the World Cup does not get to keep the trophy.
Champions lift the original for the cameras, the dressing-room photographs and the homecoming parade. Then it returns to FIFA's keeping. What each winning nation takes home permanently is an official gold-plated replica — visually near-identical, materially not the same object.
It is a strange arrangement when you think about it. The most famous prize in sport is essentially on loan, for a few weeks, every four years.
The Trophy That Came Before
The current trophy replaced an earlier one, and understanding that predecessor explains almost everything about the rules governing the trophy today.
The original prize was commissioned for the inaugural 1930 World Cup in Uruguay by FIFA president Jules Rimet, and sculpted by the Frenchman Abel Lafleur. Initially known simply as the Victory trophy, it was renamed the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1946 in the president's honour.
Hidden in a Shoebox: The Trophy's War
The Jules Rimet Trophy nearly did not survive the Second World War.
Italy had won the 1938 tournament, which meant the trophy was in Italian hands when the war engulfed Europe. Rather than leave it in a bank vault or federation office where occupying forces might find it, the president of the Italian football federation, Ottorino Barassi, reportedly removed it and hid it in a shoebox under his bed.
Football's greatest prize spent the war years in domestic obscurity, and emerged intact because one administrator decided the safest place for it was his own bedroom.
Stolen Twice
1966: The Theft, and the Dog
Four months before England hosted the 1966 World Cup, the trophy was put on public display in London — and stolen.
The theft was a national humiliation, and the recovery became folklore. A week later, a dog named Pickles found the trophy wrapped in newspaper under a hedge in south London while out on a walk with his owner. Pickles became a celebrity, and England went on to win the tournament he had helped rescue.
1983: The Theft With No Happy Ending
The second disappearance was permanent.
In 1970 Brazil won their third World Cup, which under the rules of the day earned them the Jules Rimet Trophy in perpetuity. It went on display at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro.
On 19 December 1983 it was stolen from that building, and it has never been recovered. The prevailing belief is that it was melted down for its gold. One widely reported claim pointed to an Argentine gold dealer, Juan Carlos Hernández — but he denied it, and analysis of gold traces at his foundry did not match the trophy's composition.
Four decades later, the original World Cup remains missing, and the most likely explanation is that the first prize in football history was destroyed for scrap value.
That theft is the reason for the modern rule. When FIFA commissioned the replacement in 1971, it decided the new trophy would never be handed over permanently, regardless of how many titles a nation won.
Running Out of Room
The names of every winning nation are engraved on the underside of the current trophy's base — not visible when the trophy is displayed upright, which is why most fans have never seen them.
There is a limit. The baseplate has room for 17 champions, and it has been filling steadily since 1974. Spain's 2026 victory brought the total engraved to 14, covering every winner from West Germany in 1974 onwards. On current arithmetic the plate has space for the champions of 2030, 2034 and 2038 — and then FIFA will need a new plinth.
Football's ultimate prize has, in effect, a built-in expiry date on its own record of winners.
Every Name on the Base
These are the 14 champions engraved on the current trophy, in order:
| Year | Champion | Year | Champion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | West Germany | 2002 | Brazil | |
| 1978 | Argentina | 2006 | Italy | |
| 1982 | Italy | 2010 | Spain | |
| 1986 | Argentina | 2014 | Germany | |
| 1990 | West Germany | 2018 | France | |
| 1994 | Brazil | 2022 | Argentina | |
| 1998 | France | 2026 | Spain |
Two details are worth noting. The 1974 and 1990 entries read West Germany, a country that no longer exists — the trophy carries a small record of twentieth-century European history on its underside. And Brazil, the most successful nation in World Cup history with five titles, appears only twice here, because three of their wins came in the Jules Rimet era. The trophy they won outright, and lost, holds the rest.
Spain's 2026 entry also completes a neat pairing: their first title came in 2010 in South Africa, their second sixteen years later in New Jersey.
Only Eight Nations Have Ever Won It
Across both trophies and 23 tournaments since 1930, the World Cup has been lifted by just eight countries — one of the most exclusive honour rolls in sport. Spain's second title did not extend that list.
| Nation | Titles | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 5 | 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002 |
| Germany / West Germany | 4 | 1954, 1974, 1990, 2014 |
| Italy | 4 | 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006 |
| Argentina | 3 | 1978, 1986, 2022 |
| France | 2 | 1998, 2018 |
| Uruguay | 2 | 1930, 1950 |
| Spain | 2 | 2010, 2026 |
| England | 1 | 1966 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the World Cup trophy made of?
The current FIFA World Cup Trophy is cast from 18-carat gold, but contrary to common belief it is hollow rather than solid — a solid version of the same size would weigh roughly 70 to 80 kg and be impossible to lift overhead. It weighs 6.175 kg in total, of which around 5 kg is gold, stands 36.8 cm tall, and has two bands of green malachite around a 13 cm base.
Do World Cup winners keep the trophy?
No. The winning team lifts the original for celebrations and photographs, but it then returns to FIFA's custody. Each champion nation receives an official gold-plated replica to keep permanently. This rule exists specifically because of what happened to the previous trophy, which Brazil won outright in 1970 and which was then stolen in 1983 and never recovered.
Who designed the World Cup trophy?
The Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, from Milan. His design — two figures rising upward while holding the Earth aloft — won FIFA's design competition in 1971, chosen from 53 submissions submitted by entrants across seven countries. It was first awarded in 1974 and has been the prize ever since, making it younger than many fans assume.
What happened to the original Jules Rimet Trophy?
It was stolen twice. In 1966, four months before the World Cup in England, it was taken from a public display in London and recovered a week later by a dog named Pickles, who found it wrapped in newspaper under a hedge. After Brazil won it permanently in 1970, it was stolen again from the Brazilian federation's Rio de Janeiro headquarters on 19 December 1983 and has never been found, most likely melted down.
Why was the trophy replaced in 1974?
Because the Jules Rimet Trophy had been won outright. Its rules stated that any nation winning the World Cup three times could keep it permanently, and Brazil achieved that with their 1970 title. FIFA therefore needed an entirely new prize, and commissioned Gazzaniga's design with one crucial change: this trophy would never be given away for good, no matter how many titles a country accumulated.
How many names fit on the World Cup trophy?
Seventeen. The winners are engraved on the underside of the base, and Spain's 2026 win brought the running total to 14 champions dating back to 1974. That leaves room for the winners of 2030, 2034 and 2038, after which FIFA will need to replace the baseplate or find another solution.
Where is the World Cup trophy kept between tournaments?
FIFA retains custody of the original at its headquarters in Zurich, and it travels for official purposes including the pre-tournament Trophy Tour, which takes it to participating nations before each World Cup. The champions hold it only briefly during celebrations; the replica they keep is what appears in national federation display cabinets around the world.
The Bottom Line
The World Cup Trophy is the rare object that more than lives up to its mythology — though not quite in the way the mythology claims. It is 18-carat gold but hollow. It is smaller and lighter than it looks on television. It is younger than the tournament it crowns by 44 years. And no champion in half a century has been allowed to take it home.
The reason for that last rule is the most human part of the story: football gave its first trophy away for keeps, and lost it forever to a Rio break-in and, in all likelihood, a smelter. What survives of the Jules Rimet Trophy is a shoebox story from wartime Italy, a dog named Pickles, and a rule change.
So the next time a captain hoists it skyward, you will know exactly what is catching the light: five kilograms of gold around a hollow core, a Milanese sculptor's vision, and a lesson FIFA learned the hard way.
Sources
- The story of the FIFA World Cup trophy — FIFA
- FIFA World Cup trophy: history, design and more — Olympics.com, International Olympic Committee
- What is the FIFA World Cup Trophy made of? — Visual Capitalist
- Brazil's World Cup trophy was stolen in 1983 and never returned — A&E
- Is the World Cup trophy made of gold? 10 facts about soccer's ultimate prize — FOX Sports
Related on PrimusSource: Spain Are World Champions: La Roja Sink Messi's Argentina, The 4 Debutants of World Cup 2026, Why the 48-Team World Cup Changed Everything and more in our FIFA World Cup topic hub.
