From left: former Brazil international Rivaldo, ex-South Korean football star Cha Bum-kun, former South Korea captain Park Ji-sung and South Korean men’s national football head coach Paulo Bento pose next to the FIFA World Cup Trophy during a media showcase in Seoul on Aug. 24, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — The official championship trophy for the FIFA World Cup arrived in Seoul on Wednesday, presented by a pair of football legends as the trophy’s global tour made the South Korean capital its first Asian stop.
The FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour first began in 2006, and this is the trophy’s fourth showcase in South Korea and first since 2014.
This year’s tour started in Dubai in May and for the first time, the trophy will visit all 32 nations that qualified for the tournament. The tour will cover 51 countries in total.
The trophy was unveiled to the media Wednesday at The Hyundai Seoul, a major shopping mall in Yeouido, western Seoul, and will be presented to the public at the same venue Thursday.
Cha Bum-kun and Park Ji-sung, former national team stars and among the most beloved athletes in South Korean sports history, unveiled the trophy on the stage, joined by the current national team head coach Paulo Bento and former Brazil star Rivaldo, a member of the 2002 World Cup-winning squad who traveled with the trophy to Seoul as an honorary ambassador of the tour.
Per FIFA rules, only former champions and heads of state may touch the trophy.
Former Brazil star and FIFA global ambassador Rivaldo (L) and former South Korean international star Cha Bum-kun pose with the FIFA World Cup Trophy, which landed at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul on Aug. 24, 2022, as part of its global tour. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
The 2022 World Cup kicks off Nov. 20 in Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to host football’s showpiece event. South Korea will be making their 10th consecutive appearance and 11th overall.
South Korea will face Portugal, Uruguay and Ghana in Group H. With the top two teams from each group qualifying for the round of 16, South Korea, coached by Paulo Bento, will try to reach the knockouts for only the third time.
They went to the semifinals in 2002 as a co-host with Japan and made it to the round of 16 in South Africa in 2010.
“It’s everyone’s dream to win at the World Cup, and we are working hard toward that dream,” Bento said during the trophy ceremony Wednesday. “We hope we can show everything that we’ve worked on so far.”
As a show of support for South Korea, Rivaldo presented Bento with a miniature replica of the trophy.
Afterward, Bento quipped, “I am grateful for this gift. But the replica is too small, and I don’t think I can feel any positive energy from this.”
The trophy is awarded to the champions of the World Cup but remains in FIFA’s possession, per regulations of the sport’s global governing body.
The team winning the tournament retains the authentic trophy temporarily and is later awarded the tournament edition trophy, called the Winner’s Trophy, for permanent possession.
The authentic trophy is made of solid gold, depicting two human figures holding the globe aloft. The tournament edition is gold-plated, and the year of the given tournament, along with the names of the host country and the champion, will be engraved on it.
(Yonhap)
