Frenchman Jules Rimet was the third president of FIFA between 1921 and 1954 and was the driving force behind establishing the World Cup as an international tournament.

The trophy for the first Word Cup in 1930 was originally called Victory but in 1946 FIFA decided to name it after its president and so it became known as the Jules Rimet trophy.

Although the World Cup is usually associated with drama on the pitch, the Jules Rimet trophy also had exciting moments in its existence before coming to an unfortunate end.

Dramatic history

During the Second World War the trophy was hidden in a box under the bed of then FIFA vice president Dr Ottorino Barassi to prevent the German Nazis getting hold of it.

Then it became an international news story when it was stolen at a public exhibition in London just three months before the 1966 World Cup tournament in England.

Although the thief was caught, the location of the trophy was still unknown a week after it went missing.

That was until a dog called Pickles went out for a walk with his owner in south London and discovered the elusive item wrapped in newspaper in a bush. Pickles’owner, David Corbett, took the precious trophy to a police station and his black and white dog became an unlikely hero, enjoying instant fame while the English Football Association breathed a huge sigh

of relief.

FIFA regulations previously stipulated that any country winning the World Cup three times would keep the trophy permanently, so it resided in Brazil after they were crowned champions for the third time in 1970.

Stolen again

FIFA had a new World Cup trophy made for the 1974 tournament and the old Jules Rimet trophy was put on display in Rio de Janeiro at the Brazilian Football Confederation

headquarters. It was stolen once again in 1983 and on this occasion there was no Pickles to find it.

To this day it remains a mystery as to what happened to the original Jules Rimet trophy, although many believe that it was melted for its gold.

The replica

The English Football Association had secretly made a replica of the Jules Rimet trophy after the original had been stolen in 1966. The replica was bought at auction by FIFA in 1997 and is now on display at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England.