FIFA World Cup 2026 prize money: Every team in 48-team competition guaranteed approximately ₹118 crore — win or lose

The FIFA World Cup will see a substantial rise in the prize money in the 2026 edition which is estimated to be 50% increase from what was distributed in the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Initially on December 2025, the FIFA announced 727 million as prize money for the 2026 World Cup.

According to BBC, in May, the FIFA increased the base participation prize and the preparation fee, thus bringing in a new total - a staggering USD 871 million (approximately ₹8,245 crores). The prize money is a composition of performance-based rewards and non performance-based financial support.

While the winners will be getting USD 50 million, the runners-up will take home USD 33 million. The third and fourth-placed teams will be pocketing USD 29 million and USD 27 million respectively. Not just the top four, but all the 48 teams will be receiving prize money as per FIFA.

Going by simple calculation, the prize money to all the 48 teams amount to USD 671 million out of the total USD 871 million on offer. The remaining USD 200 million will be distributed among the teams regardless of their performances - as a part of non performance-based prizes.

The non performance-based prizes include - preparation money (USD 2.5 million per team, approx ₹23.66 crores) and additional team contributions which is over USD 16 million. That means, each of the 48 participating teams in the FIFA World Cup 2026 are guaranteed at least USD 12.5 million (approx. ₹118 crores) for just competing in the event, when put together with a minimum USD 10 million qualification fee.

The preparation money by the FIFA is given to the teams to contribute towards the costs of training camps and travel for squads pre-tournament.

FIFA World Cup 2026 prize money distribution

Biggest-ever FIFA World Cup

Unlike the previous editions which had 32 teams, the FIFA World Cup 2026 added 16 more teams to make it the biggest-ever tournament for the sport with 48 nations vying for the coveted trophy. A total of 1248 players are playing in the FIFA World Cup 2026. Among them 891 are the first-timers, while 357 players have already played an edition before.

Argentina's Lionel Messi and Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo are playing in their sixth World Cups. Mexico's Gilberto Mora is the youngest (17 years) player at this FIFA World Cup while Scottish goalkeeper Craig Gordon is the oldest in the tournament at 43 years.

Get all updates from FIFA World Cup 2026 here, along with FIFA World Cup 2026 Complete Schedule and FIFA World Cup 2026 Points Table.