FIFA has raised the total financial distribution to teams at the 2026 World Cup to $871 million, making it the most lucrative edition on record [1]. The increase follows an earlier approval of a $727 million prize pool in December 2025, marking a 65% rise from the $440 million allocated for the 2022 tournament [1].
Each participating national football association will receive an additional $2 million, totaling at least $12.5 million upon qualifying for the tournament [1]. Preparation money per team has grown to $2.5 million, up from $1.5 million in 2022, while qualification money per team increased to $10 million from $9 million last time [1]. More than $16 million has also been set aside to cover delegation costs and team ticketing allocations throughout the event [1].
Ricardo Fort, founder of Fort Consulting, said, "This incremental contribution to the national football associations reinforces FIFA's role in redistributing the commercial success of the tournament back into the global football ecosystem" [1].
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted jointly by the US, Mexico, and Canada, starting June 11, and will feature 48 teams—a significant increase from 32 in 2022 [1]. Four nations—Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan—will make their World Cup debuts at this edition [1].
FIFA has introduced a dynamic ticket pricing system for the event. The model has faced criticism from some fans over fluctuating costs [1].
FIFA announced the increased payments during its 36th Council meeting on May 1 in Vancouver, Canada [1]. The tournament's opening matches across the three host countries are scheduled for June 11.
