10. The Jules Rimet Trophy

The current FIFA World Trophy (FWC) is not the original design and it is not the original name as well. The trophy was originally named 'VICTORY' since it depicted Nike, the Greek goddess of Victory. Later, in 1946, the trophy was renamed 'The Jules Rimet Trophy'. This was in honour of the third and the longest serving FIFA president, Jules Rimet.

It was designed by a French Sculptor called Abel Lafleur.

Jules Rimet declared that the country who wins the trophy three times got to keep it. This was achieved by Brazil, after winning the trophy for the third time in 1970. The Jules Rimet trophy survived a lot of tragedies in history including the Nazis: Having been won by Italy in 1938, the trophy was in Rome when war broke out in Europe a year later. The head of Italian FA at that time, Ottorino Barassi, had the trophy secretly transported to his residence from a bank vault. Hitler and his German crew followed the trail and searched the entire property but in vain. They didn't go as far as searching in the shoe box under the bed where it was hidden.

In 1966, the trophy was stolen four months before the World Cup in England on a display. It was later found seven days later in a hedge by Pickle, the dog. You may wonder what happened to the dog, won't you? Keep reading (The dog's story is covered under no.8).

In 1983, the trophy was stolen in Brazil. Never to be seen again.(The original trophy's fate is vividly covered under number 7 in this article.)

9. The FIFA World Cup Trophy

This is the current World Cup Trophy. It was introduced in 1974 after the stealing of the former trophy. The trophy is 36.8 cm high and has a weight of 6.1 kgs. It is made of 5kg 18 carat gold.

It depicts two human hands holding the global earth map; a symbol of fair competition. This trophy was designed by an Italian artist, Silvio Gazzaniga after FIFA received 53 submissions different sculptors from 7 different countries.

8. A Mysterious Past

In 1966, after the original trophy was stolen during a public display it was found seven days later. All credits went to Pickles the dog. The dog found the trophy buried in a hedge.

As an honor, the dog received both national and international fame and popularity; a year supply of dog food as well as appearances in several films at twice the price normally paid for dogs.

To prevent such incidences from ever occurring, the FA secretly manufactured a replica of the trophy without the permission of FIFA. The replica was made for the purposes of exhibition.

FIFA resolved that the replica had to disappear from the public view. This created a big conundrum as no one could tell the original trophy. It was later purchased in 1997 by FIFA at an auction for 254500 pounds. After series of testing by FIFA, however, the auctioned trophy was found to be a replica and it now resides at the English North Football Museum.

7. The Original Trophy's Fate

After Brazil had won the trophy for the third time, it was put on display at the Brazilian Football Confederation HQs in Rio de Janeiro in a cabinet made of a bulletproof glass. On 19th December, 1983, some thieves thought; "The glass may be bullet proof but what about the wooden cabinet?" Sounds funny? I wasn't there anyway.

They crapped it with a crowbar and stole it for the last time. The status of the whereabouts of the trophy remains incognito. It is believed to have been melted into gold and sold.

6. A Tradition is Born

Have you ever wondered why the winning captains lifts the trophy very high during celebrations? One of the reasons is definitely due to excitement. But this is not the main reason. Brazilian captain, Bellini, held the trophy high in 1958 after he heard photographer's requests for better view. That is why every cup winning captain has repeated the gesture.

5. Engravings

At least you have seen for once that the name of a winning team is usually written or rather engraved. This is also a case with with the world cup trophy. The bottom of the trophy has a plate where the names of winning countries as well as the years are engraved. The winner is written in its national language. Funnily, in 2010, Spain was written in English. However, that mistake was corrected in 2014 when the name display was made into a spiral to accommodate more future winners.

4. You Can't Keep It

Unlike the Jules Rimet trophy, nobody is allowed to permanently keep the trophy even after winning three times. If that was still the case, Germany would in possession of the trophy since they won it for the third time in 2014.

3. It is Hollow and Not Pure Gold

The world cup trophy is made up of 5kg of gold. With a few basic calculations, Chemistry Professor, Martin Poliakoff argued that a solid gold WCT would weigh around 70-80kg. That would make it difficult to lift. Therefore, it must be hollow. It could be filled with polystyrene. Furthermore, it is not even a pure gold as gold would deform when severally handled due to its soft nature.

The WC trophy is therefore approximated to be made of 75% gold mixed with other strong metals to make it tougher.

2. Trophy's by Country

Some countries like England and Uruguay are yet to win the FIFA World Cup trophy; Spain, France and Argentina never won the initial Jules Rimet trophy; Italy, Germany and Brazil have won both.

1. The Worth

Materially, with its Malachite base and 5kg gold, the trophy would cost up to $200000 currently but its sentimental and historic value surpasses that of its material. Its sentimental value is estimated to be $20000000.

Content created and supplied by: His-pekness (via Opera News )