How an Italian sculptor created the World Cup trophy that became an icon

MILAN — The Italian sculptor who designed the FIFA World Cup trophy wanted to capture three sporting emotions in a single spiraling form: the athlete’s struggle, the fan’s jubilation and the moment of victory.On Sunday, either Spain or Argentina will lift the trophy after the 2026 World Cup final.Here’s what to know about the most coveted prize in soccer. Silvio Gazzaniga designed the trophy in his studio in Milan’s Brera neighborhood after FIFA issued an open competition for a new design when Brazil took permanent possession of the original trophy by winning its third World Cup in 1970.The design, now familiar to generations of World Cup fans, features two figures swirling up toward an orb representing the Earth.“When he started to design the cup, he was sketching a huge number of drawings and finally started to develop the idea to have the world and this symbol that it is like a two DNA spirals, that are moving up,” said Giorgio Gazzaniga, the designer’s son who was a teenager at the time.The elder Gazzaniga, a sculptor and trophy designer who died in 2016, worked for G.D.E. Bertoni Srl and created some of the most prestigious trophies in the world, including the UEFA Cup and European Super-Cup.The first World Cup Trophy, introduced for the inaugural tournament in in 1930, depicted the Greek goddess Nike, and was known as the Jules Rimet Trophy for the tournament’s founder. FIFA commissioned a replacement after Brazil earned permanent possession of the original after becoming the first nation to win three World Cups.The Jules Rimet Trophy was stolen twice — first in 1966 while on public display in England, before being recovered by a dog named Pickles beneath a hedge in south London, according to FIFA. It was stolen again from the Brazilian Football Confederation headquarters in 1983 after Brazil had taken permanent possession. It has never been recovered and is widely believed to have been melted down.More than 50 proposals were submitted but only Gazzaniga presented a full model — which permitted the jury to appreciate both the form and the story it conveyed, his son said.“There is the world, which stands above all else, there is the athlete’s exertion, there is the athlete’s movement within the metal, and the athlete’s body is rough, rugged, for it has suffered, had to fi …

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