A piece of the original World Cup trophy, which was stolen in Brazil in 1983 and never recovered, has been found in a basement at FIFA’s headquarters.

Part of the base of the Jules Rimet trophy, it is engraved with the names of the first four World Cup winners who were Uruguay in 1930 and 1950 and Italy in 1934 and 1938.

The trophy, which was handed to Brazil permanently after they won the World Cup for the third time in 1970, was also stolen three months before the 1966 World Cup was staged in England.

That time, it was recovered a week later after being found in a south London hedge by a dog named Pickles.

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