After a month-long football extravaganza, Euro 2024 will conclude on July 14 when 24 teams are whittled down to the last two aiming for glory.
The prestigious trophy will be awarded following the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, but just what is the story behind the name, design and weight of the eye-catching piece of silverware?
The Sporting News takes a closer look.
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What is the name of the Euro 2024 trophy?
The official name of the silverware up for grabs in the final in Germany is the Henri Delaunay Cup. It is named in honor of the French football administrator who first came up with the idea of a European Football Championship in 1927 to pit the continent’s best footballing nations against each other.
The cup made its debut at the inaugural four-team tournament held in France in 1960, five years after Delaunay’s death.
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Euro 2024 trophy design
Pierre Delaunay, son of Henri, the competition’s visionary, was in charge of designing the original silverware after taking over from his father as UEFA general secretary.
With the help from silversmith Chobillion, a visually stunning cup was molded that has a resemblance to an ancient Greek artefact with a Hellenic feel. The trophy has a sleek, cylindrical body with two curved handles on either side, apparently symbolizing strength and endurance.
On the front of the trophy, the UEFA logo and the name “Coupe Henri Delaunay” are engraved, along with the names of the previous winners.
An updated version of the trophy was unveiled in June 2008 and is testament to the competition’s enduring prestige as it retained its classic style.
There are small differences between the original and the upgraded model — the names of winning countries are now engraved on the back of the trophy itself, as opposed to a plinth, while the silver base has also been made larger.
At Euro 2008, Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas was the first captain to lift the revised edition of the famous prize, which kept its original name attributed to Delaunay’s grand vision.
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Is the Euro 2024 trophy made of real silver and how much is it worth?
The cup is made of sterling silver — and it is not actually as valuable as you might expect, with a reported scrap value of just over €15,000 ($ 16,000).
Compare that to the solid gold World Cup trophy has an estimated value of a whopping €132,000 ($ 143,000).
The original European Cup remains in the ownership of UEFA and is used for various ceremonies and presentations, such as during the final and other events. The winner of the European Championship actually gets an equally sized replica to keep.
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How tall, heavy is the Euro 2024 trophy?
With its updated version, UEFA not only wanted to improve on the quality but also the shape and size of the trophy, in order to have a focal point for the event, as it was felt the original trophy was too small for the purpose.
The original trophy stood at 43cm tall and weighed 6kg. The newer version is now 60cm and 2kg heavier, at eight kilograms.
Although hefty, the trophy is still light enough to be thrown around in the kind of jubilant scenes we saw last time out when Italy lifted the trophy at Wembley to win Euro 2020.
