The winner of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will win a record $50 million jackpot, but the Club World Cup still offers less than half of that amount.
Published December 17, 2025
The winner of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will receive a record $50 million jackpot, soccer’s world governing body has announced.
This figure is up from $42 million in 2022 and $38 million in 2018. But that’s still less than half of what was on offer at the much-hyped FIFA Club World Cup earlier this year.
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FIFA has announced that next year’s World Cup, to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, will have a total prize pool of $655 million, a 50% increase over the previous tournament held in Qatar.
By comparison, the controversial FIFA Club World Cup, which expanded from seven to 32 teams and was added to the soccer calendar, had a prize pool of $1 billion. The tournament, which faced fierce resistance from players and the league and had sparse spectators for some games, offered up to $125 million in prize money for the winning team.
Chelsea won the Club World Cup, which was also held in the United States.
FIFA has different distribution models for the two tournaments. The difference in prize money reflects factors such as clubs overseeing much higher costs through wages than national teams.
In addition to the prize money, further funds will be pumped into the development of global football.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the World Cup “will be a milestone in terms of its financial contribution to world football.”
FIFA approved prize money for each stage of the World Cup at its board meeting in Doha.
The runner-up team will receive $33 million, the third place team will receive $29 million, and the fourth place team will receive $27 million.
The minimum prize money is $9 million, and all 48 participating countries will receive $1.5 million in what FIFA calls “preparation costs.”
FIFA announced that a total of $727 million will be distributed to participating soccer federations.
It is unclear how the funds will be divided between the countries, but at the last World Cup, French sports newspaper L’Equipe reported that French players were set to receive a $586,000 bonus from the federation if they won the trophy. In the end, France lost to Argentina in the final.
