FIFA have announced a nearly 50 per cent hike in the prize money for the World Cup 2026 as compared to the 2022 edition in Qatar.
Updated: June 10, 2026, 4:14 PM IST
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FIFA World Cup 2026 has a total prize pool of $655 million. (Image: AI)
FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to get underway on Thursday, June 11, at Mexico City and the 48 participating nations are bracing themselves for a major financial windfall. Football’s governing body, FIFA, had announced a massive hike of nearly 50 per cent in the prize money on offer to record levels of $655 million or nearly Rs 6,240 crore.
Just for context, the total prize money on offer in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar was $440 million. The biggest chunk of this enhanced prize money on offer has been reserved for the champions, who will walk away with $50 million or Rs 476 crore. In comparison, T20 World Cup 2026 winners Team India only got Rs 24 crore in prize money for winning the title while Royal Challengers Bengaluru got Rs 20 crore for winning the IPL 2026 title.
The runners-up at FIFA World Cup 2026 will be awarded $33 million or Rs 314 crore while third-placed finish will earn $29 million or Rs 276 crore. The 4th placed finishing team will walk away with $27 million or Rs 257 crore for their efforts.
In addition to this, the teams who lose in the quarterfinals stages will receive a cool $19 million each, while those knocked out in the round of 16 will receive $15 million as well. Those sides that are knocked out in the round of 32 will have to be satisfied with $11 million, whereas teams knocked out of the group stage will receive just $9 million.
Here’s the Prize money break down of FIFA World Cup 2026…
Champions – $50 million or Rs 476 crore
Runners-up – $33 million or Rs 314 crore
Third-place – $29 million or Rs 276 crore
Fourth-place – $27 million or Rs 257 crore
Quarterfinalists – $19 million or Rs 180 crore
Round of 16 – $15 million or Rs 142 crore
Round of 32 – $11 million or Rs 104 crore
Group stages – $9 million or Rs 85 crore
“FIFA is proud to be in its most solid financial position ever, enabling us to help all our member associations in an unprecedented way. This is one more example of how FIFA’s resources are reinvested back into the game,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino had said back in April.
What is the format of the FIFA World Cup 2026?
This is the first time that a total of 48 teams are competing in the FIFA World Cup. They have been divided into 12 groups of 4 teams each. The top two teams from each group will automatically qualify for the Round of 32 and they will be joined by eight of the best third-placed teams.
In past editions, we witnessed 32 teams competing in the World Cup – including the 2022 edition – and they were divided into 8 groups of 4 teams each with the top two sides qualifying directly to Round of 16.
(You can watch FIFA 2026 on Zee’s new Unite8 Sports network (Unite8 Sports 1, Unite8 Sports 1 HD, Unite8 Sports 2, and Unite8 Sports 2 HD). Multiple group-stage matches that will take place simultaneously will be aired across the four channels with English and Hindi feeds. All games will also be streamed live on the Zee5 app and website. Link: https://www.zee5.com/)
