A little less than six months to go World Cup 2026FIFA made an announcement that marks a before and after in the international football economy. The tournament, which will take place in the United States, Mexico and Canada, will be distributed $727 million in prizesthe highest amount ever allocated to a World Cup, and a Top 50% to Qatar 2022.
The decision was adopted during the FIFA Council meeting in Doha ahead of the Intercontinental Cup final and consolidates the economic impact of a World Cup that will already be unprecedented due to its format of 48 teams, 104 games and three host countries.
Of the announced total $655 million will be allocated exclusively to sports awardswhile the remainder goes to logistical allocations and supplementary resources. This determines the distribution The world champion receives $50 millionfar more than the 42 million that Argentina pocketed in Qatar 2022. The second place gets 33 million, the third place gets 29 million and the fourth place gets 27 million.
In the next step, unpublished figures will also be presented. The teams that finish between fifth and eighth place will receive $19 million, while those between ninth and sixteenth will receive $15 million. Teams that finish between 17th and 32nd will receive 11 million Places 33 to 48 will receive $9 million.
In addition, FIFA confirmed that each qualified team will receive an additional contribution of $1.5 million to cover the costs of preparation, logistics and concentration before the tournament. In this way, all associations are guaranteed a minimum income of 10.5 million, even if they are eliminated in the first phase.
“The 2026 World Cup will also be revolutionary from a financial perspective for global football,” emphasized FIFA President Gianni Infantino when announcing the measure. The leader emphasized that the growth in prices was due to the expansion of the tournament, increasing revenue from television rights, record demand for tickets and the strong commercial attractiveness of the North American market.
The FIFA Council also made progress on other strategic initiatives, such as: Creation of international U-15 tournaments for men and women from 2026 and the approval of a special aid fund for conflict regions with the aim of redistributing part of the World Cup revenue.
However, the announcement of the awards overshadowed the other decisions. Never before has participation in a World Cup been such a great financial reward for teams.
The details of prize distribution according to the final classification:
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