Fifa will hand out World Cup rings to the winners of Sunday’s final between Argentina and Spain, adding a new and highly unusual prize to football’s biggest stage. The move comes as Donald Trump is set to present the trophy at the final, while Fifa president Gianni Infantino has said he will attend.
The winners will receive 30 rings, with Fifa also making 1,996 additional rings available in a limited sale. It is a striking addition to a tournament being staged in America, where the USA, Canada and Mexico co-hosted the event.
A new prize for the World Cup winners
For international football, the idea of World Cup rings is not traditional. But Fifa is treating the final as something closer to a championship event familiar to American sport, where rings have long been used to mark title victories.
That is what makes Sunday’s presentation notable. The final has already been framed by the presence of Trump, with Infantino saying before the game that he would attend, and Karoline Leavitt confirming it. It adds another layer of attention to a match that has already drawn major interest.
Why the final has extra intrigue
The timing matters too. Before the World Cup final, Trump had not attended any of the 102 World Cup games so far, despite his high-profile appearances during his two presidential terms at the Super Bowl, the US Open tennis tournament, the NBA finals and the Ryder Cup, as well as hosting the UFC at the White House.
Against that backdrop, Sunday feels like a distinct moment for Fifa and for the tournament itself. The winners will not only lift the trophy, but also receive a symbol more commonly associated with other American sporting occasions.
There is also a separate controversy around the story, involving the suspension of Folarin Balogun's automatic ban after a red-card review. But the headline development is clear: Fifa is adding World Cup rings to the final, and 30 of them will go to the champions.
So the question on Sunday is simple enough. Will it be Argentina or Spain collecting the trophy — and the rings — when the final is decided at 20:00 on Sunday, with the match kicking off at 22:00 BST?
