FIFA has announced a significant increase in prize money for the 2026 World Cup, responding to concerns from participating nations about potential financial losses. The governing body will distribute an additional £650 million to the 48 teams competing in this summer's tournament.
Financial Boost for Teams
Earlier this week, the Mirror exclusively revealed that many countries feared losing money at the tournament, describing it as a potential financial disaster. In a dramatic u-turn, FIFA has now committed to providing each team with an extra £800,000 to help cover high costs such as hotels, training bases, and travel.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated: “FIFA is proud to be in its most solid financial position ever, enabling us to help all our Member Associations in an unprecedented way. This is one more example of how FIFA’s resources are reinvested back into the game.”
Breakdown of Increased Funding
A FIFA spokesman elaborated on the increased resources: “Given the commercial success of FIFA’s flagship men’s tournament, the FIFA Council agreed to increase the resources to be distributed to all 48 participating teams by a further 15%, totalling USD 871 million (£650m).”
The increased pot will be broken down as follows:
- Preparation money: increased from USD 1.5 million (£1.1m) to USD 2.5 million (£1.85m).
- Qualification money: increased from USD 9 million (£6.6m) to USD 10 million (£7.4m).
- Additional team contributions: subsidies for team delegation costs and increased team ticketing allocations totalling over USD 16 million (£11.8m).
The balance of revenues will continue to be redistributed back into global football for the benefit of all of FIFA’s 211 Member Associations.
Background of Concerns
On Monday, the Mirror revealed serious concerns from countries. One FIFA source, who asked not to be identified, told the Mirror: “There is a real concern that several countries will actually lose money. This is the most lucrative sporting event in the world. Smaller countries should be making decent money from it. It’s scandalous that they are even having to consider losing money on what will be the biggest sporting event they will have ever taken part in. There are movements to raise the issue in Vancouver and hope that something sensible can be worked out.”
World Cup Debutants and Schedule
Four nations will be making their World Cup debuts: Cape Verde, Curacao, Uzbekistan, and Jordan. The World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico starts on June 10th and ends with the final in New York City on Sunday, July 19th. England will be based near Kansas City and will fly in and out for their group games in Dallas, Boston, and New York.
