FIFA World Cup trophy explained: Why winners don't get to keep the 18-carat gold original
From its gold construction to why champions receive a replica, here's how it works
If you're one of the many football lovers who pushed through to the small hours for this final, the trophy lift is the payoff.
It's the shot that ends up on every front page and every group chat by morning. So here's everything worth knowing about it, from who's handing it over to what it's actually made of.
Who's presenting it this year
This year's presentation looks a little different.
US President Donald Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino are jointly presenting the trophy to the winning captain. That's a shift from the last two finals, where Infantino handled it solo.
Infantino confirmed the change himself, saying the pair would be "handing the trophy to the winner, of course, together."
It's a rare move too. The last time a head of state presented the trophy was back in 1982, when Italy received it from King Juan Carlos of Spain.
What the trophy is actually made of
Here's a fun one for the group chat. The trophy is solid looking, but not solid gold.
It's cast in 18-carat gold, stands 36.5cm tall, and weighs 6.175kg. If it were solid all the way through, it would weigh around 70 to 80 kilograms, far too heavy for any captain to hoist overhead.
The green base is malachite, a semi-precious stone chosen purely for the contrast against the gold.
Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga designed it, beating 52 other submissions from seven countries. He described the shape, two figures lifting the globe, as a nod to a football itself.
Why the winners don't actually keep it
Here's the twist most fans don't know. The gold trophy fans see lifted tonight doesn't go home with the winning team.
It flies back to the FIFA World Football Museum in Zurich almost immediately after the ceremony, kept under tight security between tournaments. Only former winners and heads of state get to touch the real thing.
The winning nation instead keeps a gold-plated bronze replica, permanently.
What it's actually worth
The raw gold alone is valued somewhere between $250,000 and $400,000, depending on where gold prices sit.
But as a one-of-a-kind object with football history behind it, experts put its overall worth closer to $20 million.
