The FIFA established a record prize of 50 million dollars for the champion of the 2026 World Cup, a figure that will be finalized this Sunday when Spain and Argentina compete in the grand final at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
According to CNN Español, the FIFA Council approved in December 2025 a total financial contribution of 727 million dollars for the participating teams of the tournament, which is 50% more than the 440 million distributed in Qatar 2022.
However, the organization raised that amount to 871 million dollars in April 2026, due to the commercial success of the tournament.
Of that total amount, 655 million will be distributed as sports prizes among the 48 participating teams, with the champion being the biggest beneficiary, receiving a historic 50 million.
England, which defeated France 6-4 in the third-place match, will receive 29 million dollars. France, in fourth place, will obtain 27 million.
Additionally, each participating federation receives 2.5 million dollars to cover preparation expenses and 10 million guaranteed for their qualification to the tournament. In this way, the minimum amount secured rises to 12.5 million dollars per national team, not including other subsidies allocated for delegations and tickets.
The complete prize table for the 2026 World Cup based on sporting merit is as follows: from fifth to eighth place, 19 million; from ninth to sixteenth, 15 million; from seventeenth to thirty-second, 11 million; and from thirty-third to forty-eighth, nine million dollars.
Compared to the previous edition, the increase is significant: the prize for the champion rises by eight million dollars from the 42 million that Argentina received for winning Qatar 2022, while the runner-up's prize grows by three million from the 30 million of that edition.
The increase in the total prize pool is partly due to the expanded format of the tournament: the 2026 World Cup is the first in history to feature 48 participating teams, 16 more than in Qatar 2022, which also broadened the revenue base for the organization.
The final this Sunday is unprecedented in the history of the World Cup: Spain and Argentina have never faced each other at this stage of the tournament.
Lionel Messi, 39 years old, is playing what he has described as "surely his last match in a World Cup," in his third World Cup final following those of 2014 and 2022.
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