FIFA confirmed 2026 World Cup The winners will receive 50 million USD in prize money.

The total prize money of $655 million, which will be divided among the competition’s 48 participants, represents a 50 percent increase from 2022. A record financial contribution of $727m was approved by the FIFA Council.

“FIFA World Cup 2026 will also be groundbreaking in terms of its financial contribution to the global football community,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

How will the World Cup prize money be distributed?

FIFA announced that the World Cup prize money will be distributed as follows:

• Champions: USD 50 million
• Runners-up: USD 33 million
• 3rd place: USD 29 million
• Fourth place: USD 27 million
• 5th-8th place: USD 19 million
• 9th-16th place: USD 15 million
• 17th- 32nd place: USD 11 million
• 33rd-48th place: USD 9 million

In addition, each qualified team will receive $1.5 million in preparation costs for the tournament, meaning each participant will receive at least $10.5 million net.

The announcement comes just a day after FIFA confirmed a small number of World Cup tickets would be made available for $60 (around £45) in response to criticism of its pricing structure, which saw no tickets for the quarter-finals costing less than £500.

Initially, the cheapest ticket for the final was more than £3,000, meaning any fan who followed their team from the group stage all the way to the final would be set back at least £5,000.

The new “supporter entry tier”, which FIFA says was introduced after demand for tickets exceeded 20 million requests, will make up 10% of the allocation for each participating football association.

“With demand receiving 20 million ticket requests in the current sales phase, FIFA has confirmed that fans of national teams that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026 will benefit from a dedicated ticket pricing tier, designed to make their teams more affordable on football’s biggest stage,” FIFA said in a statement.

“Entry level tickets will be allocated specifically to supporters of eligible teams, with the selection and distribution process being managed individually by the Participating Member Associations (PMAs). Each PMA will define its own eligibility criteria and application process.

“They are requested to ensure that these tickets are specifically allocated to loyal fans who are closely associated with their national teams.

“In total, 50% of each PMA allocation will fall into the most affordable tiers, namely the Supporter Value Tier (40%) and the Supporter Entry Tier (10%). The remaining allocation is split equally between the Supporter Standard Tier and the Supporter Premier Tier.”

Yet, following the announcement of a huge increase in prize money, calls for FIFA to do more to make its biggest ever World Cup more affordable as supporters understandably only grew louder.