The Argentine government has declared Tuesday, December 20 as a public holiday so that the entire country can express their deepest joy for the national team. Argentina who beat France on Sunday, arrived in the country in the early hours of Tuesday on a state airline flight and was welcomed by thousands of fans outside the airport. The Argentina national team will celebrate their World Cup triumph in Buenos Aires at the Obelisk, the monument that is the traditional epicentre of sporting celebrations.
Why Argentina won’t keep World Cup trophy:
It was earlier reported that Argentina will not be keeping the original World Cup trophy, despite winning the 2022 edition of the tournament in Qatar. The South Americans staged an epic performance during the final as they saw off title holders France to be crowned the champions. The match was decided via a thrilling penalty shootout after it ended in a 3-3 draw after extra time, with Kylian Mbappe netting a hat-trick.
Argentina are expected to return the original World Cup trophy despite winning it in Qatar.
The South Americans will instead get a replica trophy made of bronze and coated with gold The original will be returned by the champions to FIFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
Argentina emerged victors after the shootouts, scoring all four of their spot kicks as France missed two.
Argentina to get World Cup replica However, according to Euro Sport, Messi’s Argentina will only get a replica of the World Cup which is made of bronze and coated with gold. The publication reports that the original World Cup trophy is 36.5 cm tall and is made of 6.175kg or 30,875 carats of 18-karat (75%) gold. It is understood that the original trophy is kept at the FIFA World Football Museum in Zurich, Switzerland. However, fans often get a rare glimpse of it during tours around the world for ceremonies and appearances.
According to Goal, it had previously been a common practice for some countries to keep the real World Cup trophy for exhibition or safekeeping.
However, due to the integrity of the trophy and general safety concerns, there was a change of policy.
The policy change came into force after the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy was infamously stolen twice.