Closing Remarks for the 2014 FIFA World Cup

If you are not living under a rock, you are well aware the 2014 FIFA World Cup is well under way. In fact, it’s over. The crowning tournament of the most popular sport in the world has captured all of our hearts. The past couple weeks have marked a whirlwind of emotions, highs and lows among triumphs and failures. While soccer is not traditionally as popular in the U.S., international fans have emerged from our melting pot and stirred team spirit among the most complacent of us. While the U.S. team did not make it to the semi-finals, they made it further than anyone expected, and for that we applaud them (special high five goes to Tim Howard). Here’s what you may have missed this past weekend and what you may not have known about the FIFA World Cup.

There is a Third Place

This past Saturday, at 3p.m. EST, there was a match between Holland and Brazil that determined the third place winner of the FIFA World Cup. Who knew there wasn’t just one crowning winner? The match was especially heated for the home team, which had already undergone a devastating loss to Germany (and I mean, devastating), but after the time ran out and the score was still tied 2-2, Brazil was thrown into the penalty kick round and came up short. The final score was 4-2 and Holland secured third place.

Germany Won

Spoiler Alert: if you had your head in the sand and haven’t watched your DVR recording of the game yet, well, Germany won. They were the favorite to win, and while many were rooting for Argentina to upset the deutschland powerhouse, they came up one short. After 90 minutes of intense play drew to a draw, overtime prospects seemed to wane. And just when it seemed like the game was heading to a penalty shootout, Germany’s Mario Götze, in the 113th minute of time, chested down an André Schürrle cross before volleying it past Argentina goalie Sergio Romero to win and take home the victory.

And that’s all folks. The win makes Germany four-time World Cup champions, but it is the first win as a unified nation. The victory also gives them the honor of being the first European team to win the title on South American soil. In addition, this is the second time Germany has defeated Argentina for a World Cup title, having done so in 1990, the last time they won.

There is Only One World Cup Trophy

Did you know every four years, when the winning team receives the World Cup trophy, its actually a copy? The original FIFA World Cup Trophy cannot be won outright anymore, as the new regulations state that it shall remain in FIFA’s own possession. Instead, the FIFA World Cup winners are awarded a replica which they get to keep as a permanent reminder of their great triumph. These gold-plated replicas are referred to as the FIFA World Cup Winners’ Trophies. The original trophy is said to be as valuable as the Mona Lisa.

FIFA Pays the Teams Prize Money

After all is said and done, there’s prize money to be paid. If you were wondering where the profit goes for such a global event, well, a lot of it goes back into the teams and the countries they played for. The total prize money for the 2014 FIFA World Cup was confirmed by FIFA to exceed $576 million, which will be handed down to the 32 teams that participated and distributed accordingly. The following table was released by FIFA to outline the distribution:

And with that we conclude the final remarks for the 2014 FIFA World Cup! We hope you enjoyed these fun facts and tidbits of information for this year’s games. And as we put away our jerseys and blow horns, we hope you continue to follow soccer well through the regular season and for the next four years as we await the 2016 games!