Full Breakdown of Improved 2026 World Cup Prize Money

The top decision makers in world soccer are on Canada’s west coast for several meetings this week.

Gianni Infantino (center) and soccer’s most significant decision makers are in the World Cup host city of Vancouver this week. | Verity Griffin/FIFA/Getty Images, Rich Lam/FIFA/Getty Images,

VANCOUVER — Teams heading to the 2026 FIFA World Cup will see more money come their way, after the FIFA Council elected to increase prize money for each nation at the first 48-team edition of the tournament. 

The overall increase totals over $100 million. It will be distributed among the participating nations, with the increase intended to address concerns about the tournament’s high cost, given varying tax rates, travel costs and other measures across the three host nations of Canada, the United States and Mexico. 

As part of the announcement, FIFA says it will give each team an additional $2 million, $1 million in “preparation money” for tournament-related expenses, and a $1 million increase in the qualifying reward baseline—both of which include host nations that skipped official qualifying tournaments. 

The decisions were made at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver, sitting near the Vancouver Convention Center, which is hosting Thursday’s 76th FIFA Congress, set to feature all 211 members of the sport’s international governing body. 

In total, the changes mean “preparation money” is increased to $2.5 million per team, with the baseline qualification reward rising to $10 million. However, the round-by-round prize money add-ons will remain the same as those announced in December. 

FIFA also announced “subsidies for team delegation costs and increased team ticketing allocations totaling over $16 million,” bringing the total increase following the recent announcement to over $100 million—now sitting at $871 million, according to FIFA, up from December’s initial announcement of $755 million.

As a non-profit organization, FIFA aims to put as much money as possible back to its members, and expects to make a record $11 billion at the World Cup.

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Exit Round	Sum
Group Stage	$9 million
Round of 32	$11 million
Round of 16	$15 million
Quarterfinal	$19 million
Fourth Place (Third-Place Playoff Loser)	$27 million
Third Place	$29 million
Runners-Up	$33 million
Winner	$50 million

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While the increased funds to each federation come from the World Cup, many tournament costs are already covered by FIFA, including business-class flights for a 50-person delegation from venues and base camps, rental fees for training sites, and lodging for five nights before the tournament and one night after elimination, among other factors. 

National federations, however, are on the hook for any costs above the 50-person delegation, 26 of which already includes the players. Soccer and operations staff for many nations greatly exceeds the remaining 24 spots, where the increased funding could be applied.

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Red Card for Covering Mouth, Yellow Card Amnesty 

Players no longer have to worry about yellow card accumulation in the semifinals of the 2026 World Cup. | Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images

Among Tuesday’s other official decisions, FIFA and the International Football Association Board determined several changes to be applied to the upcoming World Cup, including a new red card offense and yellow card record adjustments. 

Players will now be eligible to receive red cards for covering their mouths when speaking to an opponent, in an effort to deter racist and offensive comments, as seen recently in La Liga and across the world. 

“If a player covers his or her mouth and says something and this has a racist consequence, then they have to be sent off,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino told Sky in March. “There has to be a presumption that he has said something he shouldn’t have said; he wouldn’t have to cover his mouth.”

At the same time, FIFA has agreed to wipe yellow cards twice at the upcoming World Cup, once after the group stage and again after the quarterfinals, in the hope of fewer players missing significant knockout games due to yellow card accumulation. A one-match ban will still be implemented if a player receives two yellow cards, but players will now have a clean slate three times in the tournament. 

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 Afghan Women’s Refugee Team Allowed at FIFA Tournaments

Afghan Women United at the FIFA Unites Women's Series 2025. | ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT/AFP/Getty Images

A women’s team made up of Afghan refugees will be eligible to play in international competitions, the FIFA Council agreed to on Tuesday, five years after Afghanistan national team players fled the country’s Taliban rule. 

The Council agreed to amend the regulations to recognize the refugee team, which has played under the name Afghan Women United to date. Their recognition comes too late to qualify for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, but they will be eligible to participate in the qualification process for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. 

The initial steps towards regeneration came in October 2025, when Afghan Women United hosted a tournament in Morocco featuring Chad, Libya and Tunisia, following significant efforts from human rights groups, as well as former captain and activist Khalida Popal.

Afghanistan has not played a competitive women’s soccer match since 2018.

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Topics to Watch

FIFA events continue on Wednesday in Vancouver, with a delegation soccer tournament featuring leaders and FIFA legends at the University of British Columbia, followed by the official FIFA Congress Dinner. 

Thursday will see the primary event, with over 1,600 delegates expected to attend a Congress meeting that will address racism in soccer, upcoming budgets, and suspensions of FIFA members, which could include talks on Russia’s return to the international game. 

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