2026 FIFA World Cup prize money: How much will the winners earn? Purse, funds for teams and players, history

FIFA announced a record prize money structure for the 2026 World Cup (hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico) during a Council meeting in Doha. The winning national federation will receive $50 million, up from $42 million (Argentina in 2022) and $38 million (France in 2018).

The World Cup is the Super Bowl of soccer, which means it has high stakes with a high payout.

The tournament will be distributing even more money for the 2026 competition, which is expanded to 48 teams this year. The boost in pay also comes from the need for an increased travel budget. The tournament will be played across three countries, the United States, Mexico and Canada.

FIFA World Cup 2026 Prize Money, Purse, Payout Breakdown

Here's how much teams will make at the 2026 World Cup:

What is the total amount FIFA will give teams at the 2026 World Cup?

FIFA will distribute a record $871 million to the 48 teams participating in the 2026 World Cup. This total was announced in April and is a 15 percent increase from the $727 million that the federation originally planned to distribute in a decision made after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

How much money does each team at the 2026 World Cup receive?

How much prize money will the 2026 World Cup winners get? Here is a Complete Guide about Prize Fund, purse, winners share by round.

FIFA announced the complete performance-based prize money distribution on December 17, 2025. The total performance prize fund is $655 million, distributed based on the furthest stage each team reaches (non-cumulative).

Additionally, every participating team (all 48 nations) receives $1.5 million for preparation costs, making the overall distribution to federations $727 million.

Each team will receive a minimum of $12.5 million for participating in the 2026 World Cup. They will get $2.5 million for preparation (up from the initial $1.5 million) and $10 million simply for qualifying (up from the initial $9 million).

Additionally, FIFA said it would distribute “subsidies for team delegation costs and increased team ticketing allocations totaling over $16 million."

2026 FIFA World Cup Full Prize Money Breakdown

Group stage elimination: (places 33rd–48th: 16 teams): $9 million each

Round of 32 elimination: (places 17th–32nd: 16 teams): $11 million each

Round of 16 elimination: (places 9th–16th: 8 teams): $15 million each

Quarterfinal elimination: (places 5th–8th: 4 teams): $19 million each

Fourth place: $27 million

Third place: $29 million

Runner-up: $33 million

Winner: $50 million

How much money will the 2026 World Cup champion get?

The winner of the 2026 World Cup will be awarded $50 million.

Argentina will hope to win its second straight title with Lionel Messi, while Spain will try to win the World Cup in Lamine Yamal's tournament debut. France and Kylian Mbappé will try to capture another title after winning the 2018 tournament.

How much money did Argentina get for winning the 2022 World Cup?

The Argentina squad received a record $42 million for winning the 2022 World Cup. This was Messi's first World Cup title. It is unknown how much of the payout each individual player received.

FIFA World Cups Prize Money History, Purse from 1982-2026.

World Cup Prize Money History: How much did teams earn in past FiFA World Cups

With the holding of each World Cup, the winnings of the winning team also increase as well .

The FIFA World Cup prize money has been increased every four years without any obstacle, A total of $20 million FIFA prize money was divided among 24 teams in 1982 FIFA World Cup.

By the FIFA World Cup of 1990, the prize money had more than doubled to $54 million, and FIFA boosted the prize money by roughly 50% every four years after that.

The overall prize pool by the time Russia held the 2018 World Cup had risen to $791 million, of which the victorious team France takes home cash worth $40 million.

WC Year -- Total Purse -- Winners share

World Cup 1982 (Spain) -- $20m - $2.2m

World Cup 1986 (Mexico) -- $26m - $2.8m

World Cup 1990 (Italy) -- $54m - $3.5m

World Cup 1994 (USA) -- $71m - $4m

World Cup 1998 (France) -- $103m - $6m

World Cup 2002 (Japan-Korea) -- $156.5m - $8m

World Cup 2006 (German) -- $266M ($288M) - $20m

World Cup 2010 (South Africa) -- $420m - $30m

World Cup 2014 (Brazil) -- $576m - $35m

World Cup 2018 (Russia) -- $791m - $38m

World Cup 2022 (Qatar) -- $1 Billion - $45 million

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