Athletes’ rights
World Cup Prize Money, Men vs Women: What FIFA Has Published
World Cup prize money men vs women is a comparison that FIFA's own publications now allow in part: USD 440 million in prize money at the men's tournament in Qatar in 2022, USD 110 million for participating member associations at the 2023 Women's World Cup, and USD 655 million announced for the men's tournament in 2026. The figures are not like for like, because FIFA structured each pool differently.
How much prize money did the 2023 Women's World Cup distribute?
At the 73rd FIFA Congress in Kigali on 16 March 2023, FIFA announced a total package of USD 152 million for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand, which it described as three times the 2019 amount and more than ten times the 2015 amount.
Of that, USD 110 million went to participating member associations, up from USD 30 million in 2019 and USD 15 million in 2015. For the first time, a dedicated share of the funding was ringfenced for the players themselves.
What did individual players receive in 2023?
A FIFA media release of 8 June 2023 set out guaranteed payments per player based on how far the team progressed. The model was endorsed by the global players' union FIFPRO. Member associations received separate allocations by final position, which they could reinvest in football in their countries.
The release also stated that FIFA's total investment in the tournament was budgeted to exceed USD 500 million, a wider figure than the prize pool, and that players would receive the same conditions and service levels as at the men's World Cup in Qatar 2022.
| Final position | Per player | Per member association |
|---|---|---|
| Group stage | 30,000 | 1,560,000 |
| Round of 16 | 60,000 | 1,870,000 |
| Quarter-final | 90,000 | 2,180,000 |
| 4th place | 165,000 | 2,455,000 |
| 3rd place | 180,000 | 2,610,000 |
| 2nd place | 195,000 | 3,015,000 |
| Champions | 270,000 | 4,290,000 |
Source: FIFA media release, 8 June 2023
What are the men's World Cup figures?
FIFA's 2022 annual report lists prize money of USD 440 million among the costs of the men's World Cup in Qatar. That is the pool figure the desk could verify at FIFA directly; the per-position breakdown for 2022 was not opened for this article.
For the 2026 tournament, the FIFA Council announced on 17 December 2025 a prize money pool of USD 655 million, described as a 50 percent increase on the previous edition, within a total financial contribution of USD 727 million. Each qualified team also receives USD 1.5 million for preparation, so every participating association is guaranteed at least USD 10.5 million.
- Champions: USD 50 million
- Runners-up: USD 33 million; third place: USD 29 million; fourth place: USD 27 million
- Fifth to eighth place: USD 19 million each; ninth to sixteenth: USD 15 million each
- Seventeenth to thirty-second place: USD 11 million each; thirty-third to forty-eighth: USD 9 million each
How do club payments compare?
FIFA also pays clubs whose players are released for the tournament, separately from prize money. For the 2022 men's tournament it distributed USD 209 million to 440 clubs from 51 member associations, paid at a rounded daily amount of USD 10,950 for each of 837 released players, regardless of minutes played.
For the 2023 Women's World Cup, FIFA reported USD 11.3 million going to 1,041 clubs from 48 member associations, up from USD 8.48 million and 822 clubs in 2019. The sum is split between releasing clubs and training clubs, again without reference to minutes played.
Why are the figures hard to compare, and what is the stated goal?
The published amounts describe different things. The 2023 table shows both a guaranteed amount per player and an allocation per member association, while the 2026 announcement states amounts per team by finishing position, with no per-player split in the release the desk reviewed.
The 2026 table runs down to the 33rd to 48th places, so it covers a 48-team field. The 2022 figure comes from the prize money line of FIFA's annual report, and the 2023 figure of USD 110 million is the amount distributed to participating member associations. Readers comparing the three numbers should treat them as FIFA's published headline pools, not as audited like-for-like payments to players.
At the 2023 Congress, FIFA's president named equality in payments between the men's World Cup in 2026 and the women's World Cup in 2027 as a long-term aim, calling it the most difficult step. He also said that offers FIFA receives from broadcasters and sponsors for the women's event are 10 to 100 times lower than for the men's.
The desk found no FIFA publication stating the 2027 prize pool in the pages reviewed, so no figure for that tournament is given here.
