The expansion in the number of national teams is also reflected in the prize scale. The teams that reach the quarterfinals, that is, from fifth to eighth place, will receive 19 million dollars. Those that reach the round of 16 (from 9th to 16th) will secure 15 million, while the national teams that are eliminated in the previous stage (from 17th to 32nd) will earn 11 million. Even the teams that do not advance beyond the group stage (from 33rd to 48th) will receive 9 million.
In addition to the money associated with on-field performance, FIFA guaranteed an advance of 1.5 million dollars for each of the qualified national teams, intended to cover preparation expenses and operating costs. This way, all participating federations have a guaranteed minimum income of 10.5 million dollars, regardless of their performance in the tournament.
With this structure, the 2026 World Cup will not only be the largest in terms of the number of teams, but also the most lucrative. The total amount far exceeds the more than 400 million distributed in Qatar 2022, which at the time had already set a historic high, and consolidates the trend of economic growth of the World Cup driven by FIFA.
