Two different trophies, two very different fates. One disappeared for good. The other has been handed to a new champion every four years since West Germany first lifted it in Munich.

Key Takeaways

  • The original trophy, first called the Coupe du Monde, was renamed the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1946 after FIFA’s third president.
  • Brazil won the Jules Rimet Trophy for a third time in 1970, which meant they got to keep it permanently under the competition’s own rules.
  • The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen from a Rio de Janeiro exhibition in 1983 and has never been recovered.
  • Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga designed the current trophy in 1971; Milan’s Stabilimento Artistico Bertoni made it in 1973-74.
  • The current trophy is 36.5cm tall, weighs 6.175kg, and is made of 18-karat gold with a malachite base.

In This Article

What Is the History of the World Cup Trophy?

Two trophies have carried the name across nearly a century of tournaments. The first, awarded from 1930 to 1970, was later renamed the Jules Rimet Trophy and disappeared for good after a 1983 theft. The current trophy, designed by Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga and first awarded in 1974, is the one still handed to every World Cup-winning captain today.

How Did the Original Trophy Become the Jules Rimet Trophy?

The first World Cup trophy, presented at the inaugural 1930 tournament in Uruguay, started life with a simple name: the Coupe du Monde, French for “World Cup.” French sculptor Abel Lafleur designed it, a small gold statuette of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, standing on a lapis lazuli pedestal.

The renaming came in 1946, at the first FIFA congress after the Second World War. FIFA’s members voted to rename the trophy after Jules Rimet, the French FIFA president who had pushed for the tournament’s creation in the first place and stayed in the role until 1954. From that point on, it was the Jules Rimet Trophy, and it stayed in play for five more tournaments: 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, and 1966, before the most consequential clause in its history came into effect in 1970.

Why Did Brazil Get to Keep the Jules Rimet Trophy?

FIFA’s original rules included a permanence clause: whichever nation won the World Cup three times would keep the trophy outright, rather than returning it for the next cycle. Italy (1934, 1938), Uruguay (1930, 1950), and Brazil (1958, 1962) had each won twice by the early 1960s, putting the clause within reach.

Brazil got there first. Pelé’s team beat Italy 4-1 in the 1970 final in Mexico City, Brazil’s third title, and under FIFA’s own rule, the Jules Rimet Trophy went home with them for good. It’s worth noting the trophy had already survived one theft by that point: it was stolen from a public exhibition in London ahead of the 1966 tournament in England, and recovered days later by a dog named Pickles, who found it wrapped in newspaper under a garden hedge.

Its second theft was not so lucky.

What Happened to the Jules Rimet Trophy After 1970?

Brazil’s football confederation displayed the trophy at its headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. In 1983, thieves broke in and stole it. It has never been recovered, and the most widely accepted account is that it was melted down for its gold value shortly after the theft, though no one has ever conclusively confirmed that. A handful of suspects were investigated over the following years; none led to the trophy’s return.

That loss is why the current trophy exists as a completely separate object, not a reissue or replacement built to the same design. FIFA needed something new entirely, and the brief for it started years before Brazil’s theft even happened, driven by the fact that the permanence clause meant a new trophy was needed regardless of who won it.

How Was the Current World Cup Trophy Designed?

FIFA opened the search for a new trophy in 1970, inviting design submissions from sculptors around the world. Seven countries submitted a combined 53 designs. Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga’s entry won, and Milan’s Stabilimento Artistico Bertoni, the workshop that made it, produced the trophy between 1973 and 1974.

Gazzaniga described his own design in terms of motion rather than a static object: two human figures at the point of victory, arms raised, holding up the world. That’s the visual the current trophy is built around, spiraling lines rising from a solid base to two figures supporting a globe at the top, rather than the single static figure of Nike that defined the Jules Rimet design.

What Is the Current World Cup Trophy Made Of?

The current trophy stands 36.5cm tall and weighs 6.175kg. It’s made of 18-karat gold, with a base of two malachite rings, a green mineral chosen for both its color contrast against the gold and its weight, which helps balance a trophy that has to be lifted overhead by players immediately after a physically exhausting final.

A solid gold object at that height would weigh far more than 6.175kg and be impractical to lift, so the trophy is built with a hollow gold shell over the design’s structure instead, standard practice for large gold trophies at this scale.

Since 1974, the trophy has carried small engraved plates on its base recording each winning nation and year, and that space is finite; commentators have pointed out for years that it will eventually run out. The trophy handed to the champion after the final has always been kept in FIFA’s possession rather than taken home permanently, unlike the old Jules Rimet Trophy; the object on public display between tournaments is a separate, non-presentational replica used for exhibitions and photo opportunities.

Why Does the Trophy’s History Matter to Buyers of Replicas and Collectibles?

Anyone producing a trophy or medal replica, for a competition, a club anniversary, or a corporate award, runs into the same design tension Gazzaniga solved in 1971: a trophy has to read as valuable and permanent from a distance, survive being handled and photographed constantly, and still come in at a weight someone can actually lift and hold without strain. That’s less about the design brief and more about picking a manufacturing partner who can actually hold tolerance at that scale; our guide to choosing a merchandise manufacturing partner covers what that vetting should look like in practice.

That’s a production problem as much as a design one. Getting a cast or die-struck piece to hold crisp detail at scale, sit correctly balanced, and finish in a way that photographs well under stadium lighting takes real tolerance control, not just a good sculpt. Am Ball has produced trophy and medal replicas for competitions including CAF, the Champions League, the DFB, and the Bundesliga Meisterschale, working through partner factories that hold tight die-strike tolerances, the kind of precision that keeps a replica looking right up close, not just in a photo. Our breakdown of how official trophy replicas are actually made covers that process in more detail.

Am Ball does not hold a licence for World Cup-branded product specifically; the trophy replica work above relates to the competitions named, not FIFA’s own tournament goods.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the current World Cup trophy solid gold?

No. It’s built with an 18-karat gold shell over a hollow structure, not a solid gold casting. A solid gold trophy of the same size would be far too heavy to lift.

What happened to the original World Cup trophy?

The original trophy, renamed the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1946, was permanently awarded to Brazil after their third title in 1970. It was stolen from a Rio de Janeiro exhibition in 1983 and has never been recovered; most accounts believe it was melted down.

Who designed the current World Cup trophy?

Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga designed it in 1971, chosen from 53 submissions across seven countries. Milan’s Stabilimento Artistico Bertoni produced the physical trophy in 1973-74.

How much does the World Cup trophy weigh?

6.175 kilograms. It stands 36.5cm tall, with a base made of two malachite rings supporting the gold structure above.

Why was the original trophy renamed the Jules Rimet Trophy?

FIFA’s members voted to rename it in 1946, honoring Jules Rimet, the FIFA president who championed the tournament’s creation and served until 1954. Before that, it was simply called the Coupe du Monde.

Has the current World Cup trophy ever been stolen?

Not the trophy actively in use. Its predecessor, the Jules Rimet Trophy, was stolen twice: once in 1966 (recovered by a dog named Pickles) and once in 1983 (never recovered).

Conclusion

Two trophies, one name carried across both. The Jules Rimet Trophy’s permanence clause was meant to honor lasting greatness, and it did, right up until it made the trophy an easier, more valuable target than FIFA ever planned for. Gazzaniga’s replacement solved a real design and engineering problem: something that reads as monumental, survives constant handling, and still comes off the podium light enough to lift. Every replica and medal built for a competition today is solving a smaller version of the same problem.

Producing a trophy, medal, or replica programme of your own? Reach out to our team to talk through what that actually takes.