Argentina face France on Sunday in the World Cup final, and no matter who the victor is this weekend, one nation will become the fourth team to win the tournament three times.
Brazil have won it five times, while Italy and Germany have both won four iterations of the sport’s most prestigious tournament.
Either Lionel Messi or Hugo Lloris will lift the World Cup trophy this weekend, but will Argentina or France get to keep the prize? Let’s take a look.
Will France or Argentina get to keep the World Cup?
Back in the day, three World Cup wins meant that you were allowed to keep the World Cup trophy.
Brazil took ownership of the classic Jules Rimet trophy back in 1970 after Pele spearheaded their third triumph.
Brazil’s 1970 win led to the creation of the current trophy.
However, since then, this rule has been ditched.
Indeed, if such a rule had been in place, Germany would’ve been allowed to keep this trophy back in 2014 off the back of their wins in 1974 and 1990.
Unfortunately for both France and Argentina, they will not be allowed to keep the World Cup trophy if they win Sunday’s final.
They will be presented with the trophy on the pitch after the game, but following that, the trophy will be replaced by a FIFA-sanctioned replica – a bronze version of the trophy with gold plating.
Realistically, it is very difficult to tell the difference between the original and the replicas due to the effect of the gold plating, but as you can imagine, as a solid gold structure, the original is much more valuable.
Of course, the title of being World champion is much more valuable than the trophy that is awarded.
Sunday’s final is sure to be a blockbuster fixture between two of the best teams in the world.
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