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   It’s only about thirty-six centimeters tall, but to fans throughout the world, it represents the highest achievement in football. Every four years, teams from all over the globe contend to take home the FIFA World Cup trophy. Yet, today nobody can take it home because the 18-carat gold trophy is kept under lock by FIFA, the international football association. The champion teams receive only a replica, in order to protect the valuable prize from thieves, who have stolen the trophy twice in its nearly 90-year history.

   The original trophy was made by a French sculptor and was called “Jules Rimet Cup” in honor of the founder of the World Cup tournament. During World War II, it was kept in a shoe box hidden under the bed of Dr. Ottorino Barassi, the Italian vice-president of FIFA, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Nazi army.

   In 1966, the trophy was stolen during a public showing prior to the tournament in England. Luckily, it was found a short time later in a trash container by a dog. Four years later, Brazil earned permanent possession of the original trophy by winning its third World Cup title. Unfortunately, the trophy was stolen a second time in 1983 and never came back, so Brazil had to make a duplicate trophy as replacement.

   After Brazil’s football association won the honor and right to keep the first World Cup trophy, a new one, designed by an Italian artist, was introduced in 1974. This trophy cannot be won outright but remains at the hands of FIFA, which watches it closely. Today, World Cup winners are awarded a replica that is gold-plated, rather than solid gold like the real one.

   This new trophy weighs a little over six kilograms. Its base contains two layers of a stone called malachite, and has room for seventeen small plaques bearing the names of the winning teams – enough space to honor the champions up to the year 2038. After that, another new trophy will have to be made.