2026 World Cup winner to earn record $50M

Field Level Media
17 Dec 2025, 21:49 GMT+10

(Photo credit: Yukihito Taguchi-Imagn Images)

FIFA will pay out a record $727 million to the 48 teams participating in the 2026 World Cup.

At its meeting in Doha, Qatar, the FIFA council agreed that $655 million of that pot will be paid as prize money, the organization confirmed Wednesday. The remainder will be given to participants -- $1.5 million each -- to pay preparation costs for the North American tournament.

That's a 50% increase in prize money from the 2022 World Cup.

'The FIFA World Cup 2026 will also be groundbreaking in terms of its financial contribution to the global football community,' said FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

The winning nation will receive $50 million, with $33 million going to the losing finalist. Teams that do not make it out of the group stage of the World Cup will receive $9 million, with the payout rising as teams progress in the tournament.

Argentina received $42 million when it won the World Cup in 2022. Forty years before that, Italy took home $2.2 million for winning the 1982 event.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will start June 11 in Mexico City when South Korea meets co-host Mexico.

--Field Level Media

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to China National News.

More Information

Business

Section

Spain’s Ferrovial to enter Nasdaq-100 in milestone US move

NEW YORK CITY, New York: Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial is set to deepen its footprint in U.S. capital markets, becoming the...

Huawei flagship uses improved SMIC-made Kirin chip, TechInsights finds

SHENZHEN, China: Huawei's latest flagship smartphone showcases incremental progress in China's domestic chipmaking push, with its processor...

SpaceX opens share sale as IPO plans push valuation to $800B

STARBASE, Texas: SpaceX has taken a significant step toward the public markets, launching a secondary share sale that values the rocket...

Dow Jones sheds 302 points as U.S. markets close mixed

NEW YORK, New York - A disappointing jobs report hit U.S. industrial stocks Tuesday, whiles tech regained momentum after Tesla hit...

From Manhattan to Montana, European tourists rethink US trips

NEW YORK/LONDON: European tourists are reworking their American travel itineraries, increasingly opting for smaller U.S. cities and...

Disney strikes $1 billion OpenAI deal, targets Google over AI training

BURBANK, California: Disney is making a significant push into generative artificial intelligence, backing OpenAI with a US$1 billion...

Asia Pacific

Section