50% increase in prize money for World Cup winners, says FIFA with 48 competing nations to get minimum of $10.5m.
World Cup prize money sees a 50% increase as Fifa offers $50m for 2026 winners.
For the upcoming World Cup, FIFA has announced a 50% increase in prize money. The winners will receive $50 million (£37.5 million) as compensation for their achievements.
The announcement follows days of public indignation about the cost of tickets for the event, which will take place across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Fifa said this week that fans from participating nations will receive a limited number of discounted tickets.
Following a Fifa Council meeting in Doha, Fifa announced that $727 million would be distributed to its member countries “as a result of the Fifa World Cup 2026.” $655 million of that amount would be awarded as prize money to eligible countries. In the extended competition, individuals placed between “33rd and 48th place” will each get $9 million, while the runners-up would receive $33 million. Each participating team will receive $1.5 million for “preparation costs,” meaning that each country would receive at least $10.5 million.
Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, said: “The Fifa World Cup 2026 will … be groundbreaking in terms of its financial contribution to the global football community.”
Over the course of the four-year cycle, which concludes with the World Cup next year, Fifa said it expected record income. The governing body anticipates receiving $13 billion between 2022 and 2026, up from $7.5 billion during the four years leading up to 2022 (an increase from $6.4 billion during the previous cycle). Fifa attributed a large portion of the growth to the World Cup’s expansion and the men’s Club World Cup, which was held in the United States last summer.
Following considerable criticism of Fifa’s initial pricing, Fifa said on Tuesday that $60 (£45) tickets would be available in the allotment national associations sell to their most devoted fans.