Who made the FIFA World Cup trophy? The story of Milan sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga - AOL

The design of the FIFA World Cup trophy traces back to Milan sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga, whose work sought to combine three emotions—an athlete’s struggle, a fan’s jubilation, and the moment of victory—into a single spiraling form. After Brazil permanently took the original trophy in 1970 by winning a third World Cup, FIFA launched an open competition for a replacement. Gazzaniga, then 50, created his winning design in his studio in Milan’s Brera district, showing two swirling figures rising toward an orb symbolizing the Earth. His family said he started with many sketches before developing the concept into “two DNA spirals.” Gazzaniga, who trained at Brera Academy of Fine Arts and later worked with G.D.E. Bertoni, died in 2016 at age 95. The earlier Jules Rimet trophy had been stolen twice, including a 1966 theft in England and an unresolved 1983 theft in Brazil. The new trophy will be lifted after the 2026 final in which either Spain or Argentina wins.