On Sunday, In Qatar, Argentina was announced as the World champions after a 4-2 penalty win against France.
However, despite being announced as winners, Argentina would not be taking the original World Cup home. Why?
It dates back to 1983 and a few years before that.
The original World Cup trophy was known as the Jules Rimet Trophy named in honor of former FIFA president, Jules Rimet.
The trophy then was made of gold-plated sterling silver weighing 3.8 kg and was given to champions like Argentina would have been given if it was not for the 1983 incident.
The 1983 Incident
In the 90s, the rule in place was that a country only got to keep the trophy after winning the World Cup thrice.
In 1970, after winning the World Cup thrice, Brazil got to take the Jules Rimet Trophy home.
However, in 1983, the trophy was stolen from a display case at the Brazilian Football Confederation headquarters in Rio de Janeiro and has not been recovered to date.
It is believed that the trophy was melted and the gold was sold as it was reported that only the base of the trophy was found and it is currently on display at the FIFA World Cup Football Museum in Zurich, Switzerland.
The same trophy had been stolen in 1966 during a public exhibition in London, ahead of the World Cup being hosted by England.
Luckily, the trophy was retrieved seven days later at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge by a dog.
The ‘Fake’ Trophy
From 1973, the winners were presented with the FIFA World Cup trophy that replaced the Jules Rimet Trophy that Brazil rightfully took home.
The new trophy was designed by Silvio Gazzaniga and weighs 6.175 kg containing 4,927 grams of pure gold.
However, the recent winners are only allowed to receive a replica of the original World Cup which is made of gold-plated bronze.
This decision is purely based on security concerns after the other trophy was stolen twice in the past.
At the end of each World Cup Tournament, the winning team gets their country’s name inscribed on a plate attached to the base of the ‘fake’ trophy.
The original trophy is securely guarded and displayed at the FIFA World Football Museum.
