FIFA World Cup Trophy has the engraving "FIFA World Cup" on its base. After the 1994 FIFA World Cup a plate was added to the bottom side of the trophy on which the names of winning countries are engraved, names therefore not visible when the trophy is standing upright. The inscriptions state the year in figures and the name of the winning nation in its national language; for example, "1974 Deutschland" or "1994 Brasil". In 2010, however, the name of the winning nation was engraved as "2010 Spain", in English, not in Spanish. As of 2018, twelve winners have been engraved on the base.
History of the FIFA World Cup instituted a policy to award three points for a win in the 1994 World Cup. Although goals for was already a tiebreaker, FIFA hoped to create an additional incentive for teams to pursue victory. The first team affected by the rule was Paraguay in 1998, which would have won its group on goal differential over Nigeria under prior FIFA rules. Paraguay advanced to the knockout phase as group runner-up and was defeated by host nation and eventual champion France in the round of 16. It is not possible under the new point system to be eliminated from the group stage