Famous Soccer Trophies in the History of Soccer
Beauty, Value, and Meaning
1. Warm-Up Questions
- What soccer trophy do you think is the most beautiful?
- Do you think trophies are made of real gold?
- Is winning a trophy more about money or history?
- Would you like to keep a trophy forever if you won it?
2. Ranking the Trophies: From Cheapest to Most Expensive
(Based on the prices shown in the video)
- UEFA Europa League Trophy
- Copa Libertadores Trophy
- UEFA Champions League Trophy
- Ballon d’Or
- FIFA World Cup Trophy
Some trophies look simple, but they can be very expensive because of their history.
3. Who Makes Soccer Trophies?
Famous soccer trophies are not made by sports brands. They are created by specialized artists and metal workshops. These artists know how to work with metal, shape objects, and polish details. Many of them study for years to learn this type of work.
The organizations that control the competitions decide everything about the trophy. The size, weight, shape, and material must stay the same. The artist cannot change the design freely. This is because the trophy represents tradition and history.
Most trophies are made by hand, not by machines. This makes the process slow and careful. When a trophy is damaged, it is usually repaired by the same workshop that created it.
In some competitions, the original trophy is never allowed to travel freely. What players lift during celebrations can sometimes be a replica.
4. What Are Soccer Trophies Made Of?
Many people believe trophies are made of solid gold, but this is rarely true. Pure gold is very soft and can break easily. Because of this, trophies are usually made with strong metals and covered with gold or silver.
The FIFA World Cup Trophy is made of solid gold, but it is hollow inside. This makes it lighter and stronger. The base is made of malachite, a green stone.
The Ballon d’Or looks very expensive, but it is mostly made of brass with a thin gold layer. This means it is not worth much if someone tries to melt it.
Other trophies use silver, bronze, or mixed metals. Their real value comes from what they represent, not from the material.
5. Who Gets to Keep the Trophy?
In most competitions, the winning team does not keep the original trophy forever. The organization keeps it safe. The team lifts it, celebrates, and later returns it.
In competitions like the UEFA Champions League, clubs receive a replica trophy. This replica looks almost the same and stays in the club’s museum.
These rules exist because trophies were stolen or damaged in the past. Today, trophies are protected like museum objects, with security and special rooms.
The original trophy is treated as part of soccer history, not as a personal object.
6. Do Players Get Money When They Win?
Players do not receive money from the trophy itself. They cannot sell it or melt it. However, winning a trophy brings many financial benefits.
Players usually receive bonuses from clubs and prize money from competitions. After winning an important trophy, players often get better contracts and more sponsorships.
Clubs also earn money when they win trophies. This money helps the club grow, pay players, and invest in the future.
So, the trophy is not the money. The trophy opens doors.
7. Interesting Facts About Soccer Trophies
Some trophies have many team names engraved on them. The Copa Libertadores trophy is famous for this. Each winning team adds a metal plaque. When the base is full, it becomes taller.
Many people ask if someone could melt the Ballon d’Or to get rich. The answer is no. The gold layer is very thin, and the brass inside is not valuable.
Players often show strong emotions when holding trophies. Some cry, some kiss the trophy, and some raise it slowly. For many players, winning a trophy is a dream since childhood.
Trophies carry emotions, memories, and history.
8. Writing Challenge ✍️
Write one paragraph answering these questions:
- Which trophy do you think is the most beautiful or the most important?
- Why did you choose this trophy?
- What was the most interesting thing you learned in this lesson?
Use simple sentences and explain your ideas clearly.
I think that that choosing the most important trophy is a very difficult thing. Also, it is very relative, because for the individual history of the player, the Ballon D’or is apparently the most important. It’s a trophy for an individual performance. For me, this makes the Ballon D’or the most important prize that a player can get.
But, when it comes to teams and clubs, there are other really important trophies, like the World Cup trophy. I believe that, for the people of Brazil, this is a really important trophy because we won many of them. I believe that Brazil should have an original copy of this trophy made with 100% gold.
Anyways, the most interesting thing I learned in this lesson was the price of some trophies. I was very surprised to learn that the World Cup trophy costs 20 million dollars. It’s not because of the gold or anything, it’s because of the historical value of this trophy. And yeah, I really liked this lesson!
I think that the most beautiful and important trophy is the Ballon d’or. I chose this trophy because in my opinion, this trophy is very beautiful and important. The Ballon d’or event only happens one time at the year, and only one player gets this trophy, and when the players get Ballon d’or, they receive a title of “the best player of the year”, and because of this, I think that this trophy is the most important.
I also think that Ballon d’or is the most beautiful trophy, because the gold color combines too much with the classic ball, and the base is also very beautiful, because there are metallic elements of nature that combines with the gold ball.
And because of this, I think that the Ballon d’or is most beautiful and important trophy.
In my opinion one of the most important trophies is the world cup trophy because this trophy is rare. I say this because this competition happens every 4 years. Also, I choose this trophy because it is very beautiful, I think this because of the gold color.
I think that the most interesting thing that I learned in this lesson was the value of the trophies. I say this because you can imagine a trophy that costs 20, 10, 4 million dollars. The most expensive trophy is the world cup trophy that costs 20 million dollars. I think that the world cup trophy is very important for Brazil because we have 5 of these trophies.
This is my opinion about the most important trophies.