FIFA announces 2026 World Cup winner will take home a record US$50 million

FILE — Argentina's Lionel Messi holds the trophy aloft as he celebrates with his team at the end of the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Sunday, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

The 2026 World Cup champion will take home a record $50 million (all figures in U.S. dollars), with every one of the 48 participating teams collecting at least $10.5 million.

The FIFA Council, meeting ahead of the FIFA Intercontinental Cup final in Doha, Qatar, announced that a record $727 million will be distributed through the expanded 104-game showcase.

Some $655 million of that will be paid out as prize money among the participating teams.

The runner-up will collect $33 million, with the third-place side picking up $29 million and the fourth-place finisher $27 million. That goes all the way down to $9 million for teams finishing 33rd to 48th.

In addition, each qualified team will receive $1.5 million to cover preparation costs.

The announcement comes in the wake of widespread criticism of FIFA for inflated ticket prices at the tournament co-hosted by Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. FIFA has said more than six million tickets will be made available for the tournament.

In 2022 in Qatar, champion Argentina took home $42 million of the $440-million purse with runner-up France collecting $32 million. Third-place Croatia and fourth-place Morocco earned $27 million and $25 million, respectively.

Canada, which failed to get out of its group, collected $9 million in prize money in Qatar.

The cash is welcome for Canada Soccer, which reported revenue of C$37.5 million in 2024. As co-host, Canada will also receive an unspecified amount as a legacy from the tournament, with plans to use some of it on a national training centre.

FIFA allocated $152 million to the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, three times more than the previous Women’s World Cup in France in 2019 more than 10 times the amount offered at the 2015 tournament in Canada.

Of that, $110 million was offered as prize money to the 32 participating teams.

Champion Spain collected $10.5 million, with runner-up England earning $7.5 million. The Canadian women went home with $2.25 million after failing to survive the group stage.

The men’s World Cup is FIFA’s cash cow, essentially funding the operation for the next four years.

FIFA reports the sale of rights related to the 2022 World Cup accounted for 83 per cent ($6.314 billion) of its total revenue from 1999 to 2022 ($7.568 billion). And that was for a 32-team, 64-game tournament with 3,182,406 tickets sold.

Thanks to the expanded 2026 edition, FIFA’s projected revenue for 2023-26 is a record US$13 billion, up from the US$10.9 billion in the initial budget approved by the FIFA Congress in 2023.

FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani, a Vancouver native who doubles as CONCACAF president, says 80 to 85 per cent of that goes back to the 211 member associations.

“This tournament feeds, for the next four years, 211 countries,” he said.

About 50 per cent of the revenue from the last two World Cups was profit, according to Montagliani.

While FIFA says the 2026 World Cup prize money marks a 50 per cent increase compared to Qatar, the numbers still pale in comparison to the money at this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup.

In July, FIFA announced the 32-team club competition would feature one billion in prize money with the winner (England’s Chelsea) collecting up to $125 million.

2026 World Cup Prize Money

Champion: $50 million.

Runners-up: $33 million.

Third-place: $29 million.

Fourth-place: $27 million.

Fifth-Eighth place: $19 million.

Ninth-16th place: $15 million.

Seventeenth- 32nd place: $11 million.

Thirty-third-48th place: $9 million.

(Each qualified team will also receive $1.5 million to cover preparation costs)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press