Argentina is living one of its happiest moments in years. Lionel Messi has lead La Albiceleste to the ultimate glory at Qatar 2022, delivering his country its first FIFA World Cup title since 1986.
The world champions have already taken the long flight back home, where they were received as heroes by millions of fans. Today, the team is having its well deserved parade to celebrate the championship with the Argentine people.
Unsurprisingly, the scenes are absolutely incredible, with nearly 4 million fans taking to the streets of Buenos Aires to see their idols with the World Cup. Many wonder, however, whether the Argentine players carry the original trophy on the bus, or if it's a replica.
Do Argentina have the original World Cup trophy in the celebrations?
Given that every World Cup champion has to return the original trophy to FIFA after the post-match celebrations, Argentina have a replica of the World Cup trophy in their champions' victory parade. Messi and company got their hands on the original trophy after beating France, but the rules state that the winner must give it back to the governing body before leaving the stadium due to security reasons.
The last team to keep the original trophy was Brazil in 1970, when they earned the right to keep the Jules Rimet Trophy - later stolen in 1983 - after winning the tournament for the third time. From 1974, all FIFA World Cup winners keep a replica in their trophy cabinet. The original trophy is kept by FIFA until the next World Cup final.
