The body governing football worldwide, FIFA, has announced a lucrative deal for teams participating in the 2026 World Cup competition, which will be hosted across Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America.
FIFA announced a 50% increase in prize money, in addition to the earnings participating teams will receive at next year’s World Cup. This is the bulk of a record $727m (£544.8m) financial distribution that the governing body’s council has approved as a result of the tournament.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the payments showed the World Cup would be groundbreaking in terms of its financial contribution to the global football community. This announcement comes a day after FIFA introduced a small number of £45 tickets for all 104 matches at the World Cup following widespread criticism of its pricing structure for the tournament.
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Fifa’s council also approved the establishment of a post-conflict recovery fund “in line with [its] objective of promoting football’s unifying values. It said this followed “the announcement made by President Infantino at the Sharm El-Sheikh Summit for Peace on 13 October 2025 that Fifa intended to create a support mechanism for regions that have experienced conflict.
FIFA recently approved a massive increase in prize money for the expanded 48-team tournament, with a total of US $655 million allocated to teams based on their performance, plus an extra US $1.5 million per team for preparation costs (meaning every qualified nation is guaranteed at least around $10.5 million).
Here’s the key prize distribution:
Champions: $50 million
Runners-up: $33 million
3rd place: $29 million
4th place: $27 million
Quarter-finalists (5th–8th): $19 million each
Round of 16 (9th–16th): $15 million each
Round of 32 (17th–32nd): $11 million each
Group stage (33rd–48th): $9 million each
Preparation fee (all teams): $1.5 million each (on top)
