The World Cup Trophy is coming to Canada, ahead of this summer’s soccer showcase.
The trophy will make stops in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa and Toronto from April 9 to May 26. The 48-team tournament, which is being co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States runs June 11 to July 19.
The 75-stop FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour began Jan. 3 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with former Italian star Alessandro Del Piero arriving with the hardware.
The current World Cup Trophy was first awarded in 1974, replacing the Jules Rimet Trophy.
Originally designed for the inaugural tournament in 1930, the Jules Rimet Trophy was awarded to Brazil for eternity after it won the tournament for the World Cup for the third time in 1970.
FIFA subsequently held a competition to choose a new trophy with Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga chosen from 53 designs. The current trophy was first handed out in 1974.
Made of 18-karat solid gold, it stands 14.5 inches tall and weighs 13.6 pounds. The base, 5.1 inches in diameter, consists of two semi-precious green malachite bands that have been restored several times, with a new layer of gold plating applied.
Holders of the cup were previously allowed to display it in their federation’s trophy cabinet before returning it to FIFA for the next World Cup. But since 2006, after the most recent restoration, the original cup has only been given to the team during the official prize-giving ceremony before being retrieved by FIFA.
The winning country gets to keep an exact replica of the original.
The names of the teams that have won the World Cup since 1974 are engraved on the bottom of the trophy’s base.
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