The trophy will leave the Philippines for Vietnam on March 3 as part of its tour of the 32 countries competing at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup finals, according to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).
VFF Deputy Secretary General Nguyen Thanh Ha said Vietnam have made a milestone after advancing to the Women's World Cup finals for the first time.
Concluding the world tour, the trophy will make stopovers in nine cities hosting the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup matches in New Zealand and Australia.
To prepare for the competition, slated for July 20 - August 20, the Vietnamese team, coached by Mai Duc Chung, will gather on March 12. They are set to play 15 matches, including friendlies and those at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Cambodia in May, before leaving for the World Cup.
The FIFA Women’s World Cup original trophy was designed by William Sawaya and hand-crafted by Milanese specialists Sawaya & Moroni in 1998 for the 1999 tournament.
Standing at 47cm and weighing 4.6kg, the cup is made of gold-clad sterling silver and engraved with the name of the winning team on its base. It is kept by the champions forever.
