The winners of World Cup 2026 will be the first to be presented with championship rings in the style of the Super Bowl, FIFA has confirmed.
Spain face Argentina in Sunday’s final at New York New Jersey Stadium. A win for Spain would see them crowned world champions for the second time, while Argentina have an opportunity to make it two in a row and four overall.
Championship rings are a long-standing tradition in sports in the United States but their introduction into the World Cup is bound to divide opinion at the end of a tournament seen by some fans as over-eager to please American sensibilities.
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Dividing the matches into quarters without consultation under the guise of hydration breaks was an unwelcome development if the reaction of fans and viewers worldwide is any indication.
Extending the half-time break to accommodate a Super Bowl-inspired half-time show flies in the face of the Laws of the Game and is another example of FIFA’s apparent desire to Americanise its competition for commercial gain.
“A new symbol of triumph will be awarded to the winning team,” said FIFA in a statement. “The tournament winners [will] receive bespoke championship rings, bringing one of the most recognisable American sporting traditions to the global game.
“One side of the ring proudly features the FIFA World Cup trophy, while the other will be customised to reflect the identity of the winning team. Each ring will be individually numbered, custom-fitted and delivered with its own certificate of authenticity.”
The captain and head coach of either Spain or Argentina will receive temporary rings before the real things are delivered later in the right sizes for the 30 players and staff eligible to receive one.
In fact, the total number of rings produced for this year’s limited edition run will be 2,026 – the remainder will be, “made available to fans worldwide as an Official Licensed Product, allowing supporters to own a unique piece of FIFA World Cup 2026 history.”
Or to buy one, certainly.
Sunday’s winners will receive the trophy proper from Gianni Infantino and United States president Donald Trump, whose attendance at the final was confirmed by the White House this week.
Infantino had previously revealed that Trump would present the trophy, as he did at the end of the FIFA president’s Club World Cup at the same stadium last summer. FIFA has not confirmed whether Trump will receive a championship ring.
The winners have been presented with championship rings since the first Super Bowl in 1967, when Vince Lombardi’s legendary Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Los Angeles.
They won it again the next year before the New York Jets – whose modern incarnation play at the stadium that will host the World Cup final on Sunday – were victorious in Super Bowl III.