subject: The History Of The World Cup 2010 [print this page] We all know what the world cup is and we all have our favorites to win the FIFA tournament in 2010, but I'm willing to bet you don't know the storied history behind the actual cup and how it came about (and no, for the Americans reading, this is not another case like the Stanley Cup where it started out as a small cup and ended up being a cereal bowl, well not quite anyway).
The world cup was first awarded in 1930 to the United States and France teams, who beat out Mexico 4-1 and Belgium 3-0 respectively (and I bet you thought it must have been Brazil who won - don't worry, we're getting to them).
It was at the time simply known as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, but in 1946, the name was changed and the cup became a commemorative to president Jules Rimet who set up the very first tournament.
Like the Stanley Cup in United States and Canadian Hockey, the cup was given to different national teams each year that it was won and held as a point of pride by the country for the next four years. In 1970 however, Brazil stunned the world when they won the cup for the third time.
Under FIFA rules, this allowed them to keep the cup permanently. Sadly, in 1983, that original cup was stolen by thieves and was never recovered (it is believed to have been melted down to scrap since it was virtually impossible to sell.).
After the 1970 tournament, a brand new cup was designed and called the FIFA World Cup Trophy. It was chosen by an international group of FIFA representatives who actually looked at 53 different designs before deciding to go with a design by Italian artist Silvio Gazzaniga.
The new trophy is 36 centimeters high, and is constructed from solid 18 carat gold. It weighs a hefty 6.175 kg and is no longer allowed to be held by any one country, no matter how many times they win the tournament. The base of the trophy contains two layers of semi-precious malachite stones while the bottom side of the trophy has the year and name of each FIFA World Cup winner engraved on it since it was first awarded in 1974.
Gazzaniga described the trophy as "lines springing 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."
