Benjamin Mendy Sells World Cup Trophy Replica: A Controversial Move
Benjamin Mendy has never been a quiet figure on or off the pitch. Now, the 2018 World Cup winner has stepped straight back into the spotlight by doing something that cuts to the heart of football’s sense of history and belonging: he sold his personal World Cup trophy replica.
The piece, an official replica given to each France player after their triumph in Russia, went under the hammer in the Global Football Auction Part 2, run by US memorabilia specialists Goldin. The final price: 62,000 dollars, around 54,000 euros. One of the most coveted symbols in the sport, traded like any other collectible.
That was enough to ignite a backlash. For many fans, the World Cup trophy is sacred ground, even in replica form. To see it listed alongside signed shirts and match balls felt, to some, like a betrayal of what that summer in 2018 meant.
Mendy did not retreat. He went straight to Snapchat.
“Is this my trophy or yours?” he shot back. “In the end it belongs to me, and I do with it as I please.” No apology. No softening of the edges. Just a blunt reminder that the medal, the memories and the metalwork are his property, not public trust.
Then came the sarcasm, relayed by France’s RMC. The trophy, he joked, “was taking up far too much space in the cupboard.” A line that landed like a jab at those who romanticise the object more than the journey it represents.
And he pushed the point even further. If people were upset about one item, they might want to brace themselves. “And by the way, I still have more titles up for sale,” he added, hinting that this may not be the last piece of his career he sends to auction.
For Mendy, that career has always been a study in extremes. Before controversy and courtrooms, there was the rapid rise. Ligue 1 champion with Monaco in 2017, he earned a 58 million euro move to Manchester City, a fee that made him the most expensive defender in the world at the time. It was a statement signing and a symbol of City’s financial muscle.
The trophies followed. Between 2017 and 2023, Mendy collected eight major honours with City, including four Premier League titles. He broke into the France setup, winning 10 caps and securing a place in Didier Deschamps’ squad for the 2018 World Cup, where Les Bleus beat Croatia in the final to lift football’s biggest prize.
Then everything stopped.
In 2021, Mendy was charged with several counts of rape and attempted rape. His football career froze as the legal process took over his life. He spent time in detention, time away from the game, time with his name dragged daily through headlines for reasons that had nothing to do with his left foot or overlapping runs.
In July 2023, the court cleared him of all charges. Legally, the case was over. Professionally and personally, the scars were not so easily erased. More than two years out of football had left a mark on his body, his rhythm, his reputation.
He started again in France with Lorient, a quiet return compared to the noise that had surrounded him at City. From there, he moved to Zurich in Switzerland, then on to Poland with Pogon Szczecin, where he is under contract until June 2027. The man who once lifted the Premier League and the World Cup now works in a very different footballing landscape, far from the spotlight of England’s top flight.
Against that backdrop, the decision to sell his World Cup replica takes on a different tone. To some, it looks like sacrilege. To others, a pragmatic move by a player rebuilding his life and career on his own terms.
What is clear is that Mendy is not interested in conforming to the romantic script. The trophy that once sat in his cupboard now sits in someone else’s collection. The memories of Russia 2018 remain his, whether or not the gold-plated reminder is on his shelf.
The question now is not what he does with his medals, but what he does with the years left on that contract in Poland – and whether his football can ever speak louder than everything that has come before.
