Having previously released models of iconic football stadiums such as Manchester United's Old Trafford and Real Madrid's Bernabéu, LEGO is now giving everyone the chance to build their own version of soccer's most prized artefact: the FIFA World Cup trophy.
The real thing -- all 14½ inches and 13½ lbs of its gold and malachite glory -- has become a symbol of the game's grandest achievement since it formally replaced the Jules Rimet Trophy in 1974.
Only a select group of people -- World Cup winners, FIFA's president and heads of state -- are allowed to hold the trophy, let alone triumphantly hoist it aloft in a cacophonous stadium full of people with a billion more watching on TVs around the world.
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So for us mere mortals who will never get close to that, FIFA has collaborated with LEGO to give fans the chance to get their hands on an extremely cool brick-based version of the most famous prize in sport.
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States next summer, LEGO has created a brilliant replica of the actual trophy. It is a 1:1 scale model made up of 2,842 individual bricks, including -- perhaps unsurprisingly -- the highest number of gold-colored bricks ever used in a single LEGO set.
It also features a little hidden feature: a compartment in the globe at the top of the trophy opens up to reveal the 2026 FIFA World Cup logo, and a LEGO figure holding a mini-version of the trophy.
Although it may not be worth quite as much as the real thing, it will still cost a pretty penny: LEGO is now taking pre-orders to ship next March for the price of $199.99.
We hope that price doesn't stop this model selling well, as we'd love to see LEGO produce a whole range of sets re-enacting iconic World Cup moments. Who wouldn't want to build their own version of Diana Ross' botched penalty kick during the 1994 opening ceremony, referee Graham Poll showing three yellow cards to Croatia's Josip Simunic in 2006, or Uruguay's Luis Suárez biting the shoulder of Italy's Giorgio Chiellini in 2014?