Benjamin Mendy Sells World Cup Trophy Replica: A Controversial Move

Benjamin Mendy has never been far from the spotlight. This time, he walked straight back into it by doing something almost unthinkable for many football fans: he sold his World Cup winner’s trophy replica.

The 2018 champion with France put the official replica he received after Les Bleus’ triumph in Russia up for auction, and it did not go unnoticed. The piece went under the hammer in the Global Football Auction Part 2, organised by American memorabilia specialists Goldin, and fetched 62,000 dollars – around 54,000 euros.

For some supporters, the idea of parting with such a symbol borders on sacrilege. For Mendy, it is simply his property.

He made that crystal clear on Snapchat. “Is this my trophy or yours?” he fired back at critics. “In the end it belongs to me, and I do with it as I please.”

Then came the sarcasm, relayed by France’s RMC. The defender joked that the replica “was taking up far too much space in the cupboard.” The message was obvious: sentimentality is not going to dictate what he does with his medals and mementos.

And he was not done. Mendy even hinted that this might just be the start of a wider clear-out. “And by the way, I still have more titles up for sale,” he added, teasing the prospect of more high-profile items appearing on the auction block.

For a player whose career has swung from glittering highs to harrowing lows, the World Cup trophy is only one chapter. Before that famous summer of 2018, he had already climbed to the summit of French football, winning Ligue 1 with Monaco in 2017. That season earned him a big-money move to Manchester City, a 58 million euro transfer that briefly made him the most expensive defender in the world.

In England, the medals kept coming. Between 2017 and 2023, Mendy collected eight trophies with City, including four Premier League titles, as part of one of the most dominant domestic sides the league has seen. On the international stage, he earned 10 caps for France and a place in the squad that conquered the world in Russia, even if he was not among the central figures on the pitch.

Then everything stopped.

In 2021, Mendy’s career came to a brutal halt when he faced multiple charges of rape and attempted rape. His name disappeared from team sheets and reappeared in court reports. More than two years out of the game followed, including time in detention, a void in a footballer’s prime that no amount of medals can refill.

In July 2023, the court cleared him of all charges. Legally, he walked out vindicated. Professionally, he had to start again.

The restart came away from the glare of the Premier League. Mendy returned to the pitch with Lorient in France, a far cry from the Etihad Stadium but a vital first step back into the sport. From there he moved to Zurich in Switzerland, then on to Poland with Pogon Szczecin, where he is under contract until June 2027.

So when a player with that kind of journey decides to sell a World Cup replica, it hits a nerve. For some, that trophy represents the pinnacle of a career and a lifetime of dreams. For Mendy, it now looks more like an asset than an untouchable relic.

He has made his stance plain: the medals, the cups, the replicas – they are his to keep, or his to let go. The real question sits elsewhere. After everything that has happened, will the next defining moment of his story come from an auction room… or from a football pitch in Poland?