2026 World Cup Prize Money Revealed as 49% Increase Confirmed — How It Compares to AFCON, the Euros and Copa America

FIFA has confirmed that the prize pool for the 2026 World Cup will be 49% higher than it was for the previous edition in 2022.

The 2026 World Cup will be the biggest international tournament ever, with 48 teams competing — 16 more than each of the last seven World Cups.

It is not only prize money that will be bigger this time around, with tickets to the 2026 World Cup final now priced 593% higher than at Qatar 2022.

What is the overall 2026 World Cup prize pool?

FIFA has revealed that the 48 nations that feature at the 2026 World Cup will share $655m in prize money — up from the $440m shared between 32 teams in 2022.

That money will be distributed unevenly based on performance, with the nations that go deeper into the tournament taking home much greater shares.

Prize money will be paid to the national association of each country — for example, the FA will receive England’s prize money. It will be up to each national governing body to decide how much to pass on to players and how much to invest in grassroots football and other initiatives.

How much prize money will the 2026 World Cup winners receive?

The 2026 World Cup winners will take home a cheque for $50m.

That is $8m more than Argentina banked for winning the 2022 World Cup and $12m more than 2018 champions France earned in Russia.

The losing finalists in 2026 will receive $33m, while the 16 teams that fail to progress beyond the group stage will earn $9m each, plus the $1.5m payment given to all participating nations to cover preparation costs.

FootballBlog.co.uk recently simulated the entire 2026 World Cup, with England — who are ranked sixth in the World Cup’s all-time table — finishing third. Winning the third-place play-off for real next summer would land a team $29m in prize money.

2026 World Cup prize money breakdown

Finishing position	Teams	Prize money	Total payout
Champions	1	$50m	$50m
2nd place	1	$33m	$33m
3rd place	1	$29m	$29m
4th place	1	$27m	$27m
QF losers	4	$19m	$76m
R16 losers	8	$15m	$120m
R32 losers	16	$11m	$176m
Out in group stage	16	$9m	$144m
Total prize pool	48	—	$655m

The prize money for the 16 teams eliminated during the group stage remains unchanged from 2022.

However, the biggest increase comes from the $176m paid to the 16 teams knocked out in the round of 32 — a stage that did not previously exist.

Losers in the round of 16 will earn $15m in 2026 — $2m more than in 2022 — while the increase for losing quarter-finalists is also $2m.

2022 World Cup prize money breakdown

Finishing position	Teams	Prize money	Total payout
Champions	1	$42m	$42m
2nd place	1	$30m	$30m
3rd place	1	$27m	$27m
4th place	1	$25m	$25m
QF losers	4	$17m	$68m
R16 losers	8	$13m	$104m
Out in group stage	16	$9m	$144m
Total prize pool	32	—	$440m

How does 2026 World Cup prize money compare to AFCON, Copa America and the Euros?

The 2026 World Cup not only dwarfs previous editions in terms of prize money, but also pays significantly more than the top continental tournaments across the globe.

Its closest rival is the European Championship. The total prize pool at Euro 2024 was €331m, which converts to approximately $388.7m.

The 2024 Copa America had a record-breaking prize pool in South America, but its total pot of $72m was still around nine times smaller than that of the 2026 World Cup.

Meanwhile, the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations — which begins this week and concludes on January 18 — has an overall prize pool of $32m.

	2026 World Cup	AFCON 2025	Euro 2024	2024 Copa America
Total prize pool	$655m**	$32m	$388.7m	$72m
Winner’s share	$50m**	$7m	$29.65m*	$16m
Second place	$33m**	$4m	$26.13m*	$7m
Minimum payout (even if a team loses every game)	$9m**	$500,000	$10.86m	$2m
* Euro 2024 teams also earned $1.17m per win and $587,000 per draw during the group stage.
** All 48 teams at the 2026 World Cup will also receive $1.5m to cover preparation costs.