The World Cup

The World Cup is the biggest tournament in soccer. Every four years since its first competition, the World Cup has been the “Super Bowl” of international football, and it happens to be the most widely viewed sports in the entire world. Over a four year period about 32 teams make it to the finals where teams compete for a chance to be the last two remaining in the World Cup game. Uruguay was the first to win and although Brazil has taken home the tile a record five times; the tournament’s current champions are Italy. Germany, France, USA, Argentina and England have all taken home the cup in the past as well. Interestingly enough the World Cup wouldn’t have been invented if it wasn’t for Olympic football tournament’s enormous success. The FIFA, along with President Jules Rimet were driven to create an international tournament outside the Olympics and managed to do so in May of 1930, which was around the time the FIFA started their professional era and became more independent. At the end of the World Cup game, the winning team is awarded the Jules Rimet Trophy, which is a 8.4 pound sculpture of Nike (an ancient Greek Goddess of Victory) holding up a golden cup. Originally this trophy was simply known as the World Cup, it was later renamed to honor President Jules Rimet for initiating the tournament.

In December of 1938 the trophy was stolen for the second time. It was as taken from a bullet proof display case from the Brazilian Football Confederation headquarters in Rio de Janeiro. The trophy was never recovered, so a replica was made. The FIFA commissioned a replacement trophy in 1974 after it first got stolen. This trophy was about 13.6 pounds of solid Gold. Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga who created the design describes the trophy in detail, "The lines spring out from the base, rising in spirals, stretching out to receive the world. From the remarkable dynamic tensions of the compact body of the sculpture rise the figures of two athletes at the stirring moment of victory.” The word’s “FIFA World Cup” is engraved at the bottom and the name of the country whose team wins is engraved in the bottom side of the trophy. This is hidden when the trophy is standing upright. After Italy won the trophy in 2006 FIFA World Cup game it was reported broken after a few days in Italy’s possession and was sent back to Italy for restoration. The World Cup is a staple in Soccer and is a true accomplishment for a team to come out victorious.