One of the most famous football trophies to be presented today is the FIFA world cup. However, it is hard to believe that the FIFA World Cup Trophy has only been in existence since 1974. Before this the winners of the Football world cup would be presented with the Jules Rimet Trophy.
The reason that the new trophy was created was that Brazil won the Jules Rimet Trophy outright in 1970 because they had won this competition for the third time. So then a new trophy had to be commissioned and made.
This new trophy was used for the first time in 1974 and was presented to Franz Beckenbauer who was captain of the West German team. This new trophy was designed by Silvio Gazzaniga and manufactured by Bertoni Milano.
The design of this particular trophy is quite elaborate. On it you can see two human figures holding up the Earth whilst on the base is engraved in out pouring letters “FIFA World Cup”. It is made from 11lb of 18 Carat solid gold and the height of the actual trophy itself is 14.4 inches. To help the cup stand properly the base measures 5.1 inches wide and contains two layers of malachite (a carbonate mineral).
The names of those countries whose teams win this particular football trophy cannot be seen as they are engraved in the bottom of the trophy. The information that is engraved on the base in English shows the year of the competition along with the name of the nation that won it at that time.
At present there are still enough plaques on the base to allow a further 9 nations to have their details engraved on to. After the FIFA World Cup competition in 2038 a decision will need to be made as to whether this trophy should be retired and a new one takes it place.
The one major difference with the FIFA World Cup Trophy is that unlike the Jules Rimet Trophy which was presented to Brazil in 1970 cannot be won outright. Also today although the original trophy will be presented to the winners of the competition on the day afterwards they receive a replica instead.
The reason for this being is that after Italy won the competition in 2006 following the FIFA World Cup undergoing restoration it became damaged. A few days after the trophy was presented to the winning side pictures appeared showing a small part of the green malachite had broken off from its base. Although this damage has been repaired the FIFA decided that they wanted to prevent any such occurrences in the future.
The replica of the FIFA World Cup Trophy that the winning nation are presented with today is the same size. However, it weighs considerably less as it isn’t made from solid gold but rather the metal used to create this beautiful trophy is gold plated instead.