Thefts, secret hideouts and changes: The checkered history of the World Cups

The World Cup has been the object of desire of every soccer team since 1930. This year, Argentina managed to kiss her, caress her and even sleep with her. It is that this unusual golden piece did not always have the same design, and even the first model was stolen.

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Here the whole story of the most desired cup in the world.

One story: two designs

The World Cup had two different designs. The first one was called “Jules Rimet Trophy” and was used between the 1930 and 1970 World Cups.

Jules Rimet He was the third president of FIFA and who devised the plans for the first Soccer World Cup in Uruguay in 1930.

The design was in the hands of the French sculptor abel lafleurthis represented a golden silhouette of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, with an octagonal cup on her head.

It had dimensions similar to those of now, 35 centimeters high and 3.8 kilograms in weight. It was made of silver and bathed in gold. Furthermore, it had a blue base made of a semi-precious stone called lapis lazuli.

The robbery of the Jules Rimet

The original trophy had quite a few incidents until it disappeared in 1983. It first survived World War II.

The then vice president of FIFA, the Italian Ottorino Barassi, secretly removed it from his vault in a bank in Rome and hid it under his bed in a shoebox.

From there it did not move until the tournament in Brazil in 1950. Already for the World Cup in England in 1966, the trophy was displayed in the Great Hall of Westminster in London.

However, on March 20 it disappeared, it was a mystery, it is only known that someone stole it when the security guards were sleeping.

The Football Association had to have a replica of the trophy built in case the original was not found.

Joe Mears, the then president of the FA, received a signed ransom note for a man named “Jackson” who demanded £15,000 in exchange for the cup.

The police recommended continuing the exchange and an undercover policeman met with this Jackson, who turned out to be an ex-soldier named Edward Betchley. He was arrested, but the trophy continued to be lost.

Until on March 27, in south London, Dave Corbett took his dog for a walk, he began hanging around Corbett’s neighbor’s car, and he noticed a package covered in sheets of newspaper.

“I tore off the bottom a bit and there was a blank shield with the words Brazil, West Germany and Uruguay printed on it. I broke off the other end and she was a lady holding a very shallow plate over her head. I had seen the photos of the World Cup in the newspapers and on TV, so my heart started to pound,” the man said.

Yes, it was the trophy and the dog named “Pickles” became a national hero, winning the National Canine League in Great Britain.

robbery in brazil

For the 1970 World Cup, Brazil won and received the original trophy. It was stipulated that the first country to win the World Cup three times would take it to their lands.

However, it was exhibited at the Brazilian Football Confederation three years later and was stolen and never appeared.

It is believed that it was melted down to obtain gold, the only thing that remained was its base. They found it in 2015 in the basement of the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

latest design

After the World Cup that he won in 1970, FIFA launched a contest to design the new trophy. 53 designs were presented and that of the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga was chosen.

The trophy is made of 8 karat solid gold, measures 36.8 centimeters and weighs six kilos. In addition to a 13-centimeter base with two semi-precious green malachite bands

The trophy is still awarded for the celebration only, then the winning country takes the replica. It should be noted that Argentina is, together with Germany, the teams that have won a World Cup the most times.