FIFA Sets $50M Prize for 2026 World Cup Champions/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ FIFA has announced a record-breaking $655 million prize pool for the 2026 World Cup, with the winning team set to receive $50 million. Although it’s the most ever for the tournament, the amount is less than half of what Chelsea earned at the Club World Cup. The move highlights ongoing debates over pay disparities and global soccer economics.
MANCHESTER, England – FIFA will award $50 million to the champion of the 2026 World Cupmarking a new record as part of a significantly expanded $655 million prize poolthe global governing body announced Wednesday. The tournament, hosted jointly by the United States, Canada, and Mexicowill take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
The prize for the winner represents a 19% increase from the $42 million awarded to Argentina for winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and surpasses the $38 million awarded to France in 2018. However, it’s still less than half of what Chelsea Football Club earned ($125 million) for winning the newly expanded Club World Cup earlier this year.
The total 2026 prize pool is up nearly 49% from the $440 million in 2022 and significantly outpaces the $110 million offered during the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand — reigniting discussions about gender pay equity in soccer.
Despite FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s 2023 pledge to pursue equal prize money for men’s and women’s tournaments by the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazila clear gap persists. The $655 million fund for 2026 remains nearly six times the women’s payout from 2023.
Meanwhile, the Club World Cupwhich expanded from 7 to 32 teams and faced criticism from players and fans, carried a staggering $1 billion prize fund. FIFA argues that prize disparity between national team and club competitions is due in part to higher wage demands and operating costs for club teams.
Infantino called the 2026 World Cup “groundbreaking in terms of its financial contribution to the global football community.”
FIFA released a detailed breakdown of payments for teams at various stages:
Total payouts, including participation bonuses, will reach $727 milliondistributed among all 48 competing football associations.
FIFA’s Council meeting in Doha also confirmed that the organization expects to earn $13 billion in revenue during its current four-year financial cycle (2023–2026), up from $7.5 billion in the previous cycle.
Each national football federation is responsible for determining how much of FIFA’s payout goes to players. For example, France’s players were each set to earn a bonus of $586,000 if they had won the 2022 tournament, according to reporting by French outlet The Team.
In the United States, the U.S. Soccer Federation has adopted a unique equal-pay structure: under the 2022 collective bargaining agreements, prize money from the 2026 Men’s World Cup and the 2027 Women’s World Cup will be partieswith 80% distributed equally among players from both national teams.
This historic agreement made the U.S. the first country to equalize World Cup prize payouts between its men’s and women’s teams — a model that has received global attention.
The announcement of the increased prize pool comes amid criticism over high ticket prices for the 2026 tournament. Fans and commentators have voiced concerns that soaring prices could restrict access, even as FIFA banks on high demand across three major host nations.
Still, with projected record earnings, FIFA appears confident that its expanded tournament format and financial model will deliver both sporting and economic success.
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