FIFA agrees 50% rise in prize money for 2026 World Cup
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
The FIFA World Cup trophy at the 2026 Finals draw at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC on Dec 5, 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
LONDON – Prize money for the 2026 World Cup will be 50 per cent higher than the previous edition, with world football governing body FIFA agreeing on Dec 17 a record US$727 million (S$939.4 million) financial contribution to the tournament.
The biggest slice of its funding package for the North American showpiece – US$655 million – will be performance-based payments to 48 participating nations, with the champions taking US$50 million and the runners-up US$33 million.
“The FIFA World Cup 2026 will also be ground-breaking in terms of its financial contribution to the global football community,” president Gianni Infantino said in a statement.
The 16 nations that fail to survive beyond the initial group phase will earn US$9 million, while in addition, each qualified nation is entitled to US$1.5 million to cover preparation costs.
FIFA’s council also confirmed festival-style youth tournaments for under-15s, open to all member associations, to commence in 2026, with a boys’ event followed by a girls’ competition in 2027.
“In recent years, FIFA has stepped up its efforts to boost youth football,” he said. “This is a natural next step.”
The FIFA Council also confirmed that the 2028 Women’s Club World Cup will be held from Jan 5 to 30.
On Dec 16, FIFA unveiled a new cut-price ticket category after a backlash from fans over pricing for the event in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
It said in a statement that it had created a limited number of “Supporter Entry Tier” tickets fixed at US$60 for all 104 matches, including the final.
It said the plan was “designed to further support travelling fans following their national teams across the tournament”.
It also said these tickets would be reserved for fans of qualified teams and would make up 10 per cent of each national federation’s allotment.
Fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which last week called prices “extortionate” and “astronomical”, responded by saying that FIFA was offering too little.
“If a supporter were to follow their team from the first match to the final, it would cost them a minimum of US$6,900,” it said at the time, adding that World Cup organisers had promised tickets priced from US$21 in a bid document released in 2018.
On Dec 16, FSE said FIFA’s partial ticketing U-turn exposed flaws in how prices for the tournament had been set.
“For the moment, we are looking at the FIFA announcement as nothing more than an appeasement tactic due to the global negative backlash,” it said. REUTERS, AFP
