[AP Photo]
The winner of the 2026 World Cup will receive $50 million from a $655 million prize pool, FIFA said yesterday [Macau time[ in announcing record financial rewards for teams in a tournament with ticket prices that have sparked outcries.
The champion’s figure is up from $42 million won by Argentina in 2022 and $38 million gained by France in 2018 but less than half of what Chelsea earned for winning the much less-hyped Club World Cup this year.
The total prize fund for the World Cup, staged in the United States, Canada and Mexico is up 48.9% from the $440 million for the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
The 2026 total will be nearly six times the $110 million in prize money for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The Club World Cup, controversially expanded from seven teams to 32 and shoehorned into the soccer calendar last summer, had a total prize fund of $1 billion. Chelsea won the top prize of up to $125 million for a tournament that faced fierce resistance from players and leagues and drew sparse crowds for some matches.
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