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FIFA finalized its prize pool for the 2026 World Cup and will award a record $727 million, but that increase from 2022 remains far less than the event’s hike in ticket costs.
Following a meeting of FIFA’s council in Qatar this week, the global governing body ratified a payout structure that is an event record and will represent a 50% boost from the 2022 World Cup. The prize pool includes:
- Winner: $50 million
- 2nd place: $33 million
- 3rd place: $29 million
- 4th place: $27 million
- 5th through 8th place: $19 million each
- 9th through 16th place: $15 million each
- 17th through 32nd place: $11 million each
- 33rd through 48th place: $9 million each
In addition, FIFA will also distribute $1.5 million to each of the 48 teams and their Participating Member Associations (PMAs) to cover preparation and travel costs, adding $72 million in total payouts to the $655 million in competition-based awards.
“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 in a statement.
Sticker Shock
Despite the hefty boost in payouts to national teams and their PMA, that planned outlay is still just a fraction of the increased costs that fans will incur to watch the World Cup in person.
Ticket costs have roughly quintupled compared to the 2022 tournament in Qatar, and Football Supporters Europe has estimated that it could cost $6,900 for a single fan to follow their team from the group stage through to the final. Scotland, in thrall over its first World Cup berth since 1998, had to go so far as to warn fans not to incur excessive debt to support the club.
The hefty increases have sparked global outrage, forcing FIFA this week to implement a new, $60 price tier for all matches that will be available on a rather limited basis. That gesture is not enough, several fan groups have already said, and pointed further to the prize pool.
“The record prize fund demonstrates there is no shortage of money associated with the World Cup,” Football Supporters’ Association chair Tom Greatrex said Wednesday. “More teams, bigger stadia, greater number of commercial partners—which all underlines that there is no need to charge extortionate ticket prices to the supporters who bring the vibrancy.”
Despite all of that, FIFA said this week it has received more than 20 million ticket requests for the World Cup during an ongoing, lottery-based phase of its ticketing. That figure is quadruple the level from the end of last week, and adds to the nearly 2 million tickets sold during the two prior phases.
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