Football has its trophy. It has its medals. Now, for the first time in the sport’s history, it will have a championship ring.
FIFA announced that winners of the 2026 World Cup will receive official championship rings modeled after the kind handed out in the NFL and NBA, marking a significant departure from how the sport has commemorated its biggest prize for over a century.
The announcement dropped around July 16, 2026. This is FIFA borrowing one of American sports culture’s most recognizable symbols and planting it firmly in the middle of the world’s most-watched sporting event.
Here’s how the rings actually work
FIFA will produce exactly 2,026 rings, a number chosen to mirror the tournament year. Of those, 30 will be reserved for the winning squad, personalized for each individual player.
