The prize for winning next year’s football World Cup in North America will increase to $50m (£37m), FIFA has announced.
Football’s global governing body is boosting the overall prize pot for the tournament by 50%, compared to Qatar in 2022 when the champions Argentina won $42m.
Forty-eight teams will compete in the expanded tournament – hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico – and share $655m (£490m).
The 2026 World Cup will be a huge money-spinner in terms of advertising rights and ticket sales and is expected to earn FIFA at least $10bn (£7.4bn) in revenue.
The announcement follows FIFA confirming a limited number of cheaper tickets will be available for each game after widespread criticism they were grossly overpriced.
The prizes for the tournament are as follows:
Winners – $50m
Runner-up – $33m
3rd – $29m
4th – $27m
5th-8th – $19m
9th-16th – $15m
17th-32nd – $11m
33rd-48th – $9m
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All 48 teams will also get $1.5m to cover “preparation costs”, according to FIFA, meaning a payout of at least $10.5m (£7.8m) each.
Gianni Infantino, the head of FIFA said the event would be “groundbreaking in its financial contribution to the global football community”.
While $655m will be dished out in prize money, FIFA said a total of $727m (£544m) would be “distributed” as a result of the tournament.
However, it didn’t specify where the other $72m will go.
The 2026 World Cup will be a huge money-spinner in terms of advertising rights and ticket sales and is expected to earn FIFA at least $10bn (£7.4bn) in revenue.
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FIFA had been urged to halt ticket sales recently after it emerged fans faced paying “extortionate” prices for tickets, with the cheapest for the final priced over £3,000.
A “Supporter Entry Tier” was announced this week, offering a limited number of $60 (£45) tickets for all games, including the final.
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However, only 10% of national associations’ allocated tickets will fall under this category and it represents less than one percent of overall capacity for each match.
The FA is getting 4,022 tickets for England’s opening game against Croatia, so just 402 will be available for £45.
It’s up to the national associations to decide how to distribute them, with the most loyal fans likely to get priority.
Football Supporters’ Association chair, Tom Greatrex, said: “The record prize fund demonstrates there is no shortage of money associated with the World Cup.
“More teams, bigger stadia, greater number of commercial partners – which all underlines that there is no need to charge extortionate ticket prices to the supporters who bring the vibrancy to the World Cup finals.
“Unless they reconsider the ticket pricing model, FIFA are in danger of undermining the spectacle of the finals by pricing out those who bring colour, atmosphere and emotion to games – ironically devaluing the ‘product’ to their commercial partners.”
