How much gold is there in the World Cup trophy?

How much gold is actually in the World Cup trophy? Here, we go through its weight, karat and gold value!

When a player lifts the World Cup trophy after a final, it feels as if the entire football world stands still. The images spread everywhere: the joy, the confetti, and the gold shining under the stadium lights.

But behind the symbolism, there is also a question many people wonder about:

How much gold is actually in the World Cup trophy?

The answer is both simpler and more fascinating than you might think.

How much does the World Cup trophy weigh?

The current World Cup Trophy, which has been used since the 1974 World Cup, weighs a total of 6.175 kilograms. It is 36.8 centimetres tall and made of 18-karat gold, with two green rings of the gemstone malachite in its base.

This means that the trophy is not made entirely of 24-karat pure gold.

18-karat gold means that the gold has a purity of 75 percent. The remaining 25 percent consists of other metals that are alloyed with the gold to make it harder and more durable.

Pure gold, meaning 24-karat gold, is much softer. A World Cup trophy that is to be lifted, transported, displayed, and preserved for generations needs to be more durable than an object made of pure gold.

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How much pure gold is there in the World Cup trophy?

A common misconception is that the trophy’s entire weight of 6.175 kilograms can be counted as gold. It is not quite that simple.

Since the trophy is made of 18-karat gold, the gold section consists of 75 percent pure gold. In addition, the base contains malachite, which means the trophy’s total weight cannot be counted entirely as gold.

A commonly cited estimate is that the actual gold section weighs around 5 kilograms of 18-karat gold.

This means:

• 5 kilograms of 18-karat gold
• 75 percent pure gold
• approximately 3.75 kilograms of pure gold

In other words, based on this calculation, the World Cup trophy contains approximately 3.75 kilograms of pure gold.

That is still an enormous amount of gold, especially when you consider that it fits in the hands of a football player.

What is the gold in the World Cup trophy worth today?

If we calculate using a gold price of around SEK 1,280 per gram on 12 June 2026, the value of the pure gold is approximately:

3,750 grams x SEK 1,280 = SEK 4,800,000

This means that the gold value alone in the World Cup trophy is approximately SEK 4.8 million.

That is only the metal value. It says nothing about the trophy’s historical, cultural, or sporting value.

Because its true value is significantly higher.

Is the World Cup trophy the most expensive trophy in the world?

Several rankings list the World Cup trophy as the most expensive sports trophy in the world, with an estimated value of around 20 million dollars.

That places the World Cup trophy far above many other famous trophies in the world of sport.

Why is its value so high?

Not only because it contains gold, but because it represents something that is almost impossible to put a price on:

Football’s greatest title.

The World Cup is played only every four years, watched by billions of people, and won by very few nations. The trophy is therefore not just a gold object, but a symbol of history, national pride, and immortal sporting status.

Does the winner get to keep the real World Cup trophy?

No. The winning team gets to lift the original trophy during the celebrations, but they do not get to keep it.

The original trophy is owned by FIFA and returns after the ceremony to the FIFA Museum in Zurich. The winning nation instead receives its own winners’ trophy, a gold-plated replica, to keep.

This makes the original even more unique. It is the same trophy lifted by world champions after world champions — but no nation gets to take it home permanently.

Why has there been a new World Cup trophy since 1974?

Today’s World Cup trophy is actually the tournament’s second official trophy. The first was called the Jules Rimet Trophy and was used from the very first World Cup in 1930 until 1970.

The Jules Rimet Trophy depicted Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, and was made of gold-plated silver. Under the rules at the time, the first country to win the World Cup three times would be allowed to keep the trophy permanently.

That country was Brazil. After winning its third World Cup title in 1970, Brazil was therefore allowed to take the Jules Rimet Trophy home for good.

Ahead of the 1974 World Cup, FIFA therefore needed to create an entirely new trophy. The result was the World Cup trophy we recognise today — designed by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga and made of 18-karat gold.

The Jules Rimet Trophy, however, met a dramatic fate several years later. In 1983, it was stolen from the Brazilian Football Confederation’s premises in Rio de Janeiro and has never been recovered. Many believe it was melted down, although this has never been fully confirmed.

Silvio Gazzaniga’s iconic design

The new trophy was designed by the Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga. His proposal was selected after an international design competition.

The design shows two human figures reaching upwards and holding up the globe. It is a fitting symbol for the World Cup: people, movement, struggle, victory, and the entire world united around football.

The green malachite rings in the base are no coincidence either. The green colour evokes the football pitch, the place where everything is decided.

Gold, football, and the feeling of something lasting

The World Cup trophy is a perfect example of why gold has such a powerful place in human history.

Gold is not used only for its economic value. It is also used to symbolise things that are meant to feel timeless: victory, prestige, security, and legacy.

The same applies to many people who choose to buy physical gold. It is not always about following short-term price movements. For many, it is about owning something tangible, something that has held value for thousands of years and can be saved for future generations.

At Tavex, you can buy investment gold in the form of gold bars and gold coins — not a World Cup trophy, but genuine physical gold with clear weight, purity, and market pricing.

And perhaps that is exactly why the World Cup trophy fascinates so many people.

It is not only football’s greatest prize.

It is also one of the world’s most famous gold objects.