FIFA Boosts World Cup 2026 Prize Money, Introduces New Rules

Teams heading to the 2026 FIFA World Cup will see more money come their way, after the FIFA Council announced a significant increase in financial distribution to participating member associations at the first 48-team edition of the tournament.

The overall increase totals over $100 million 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.

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.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated, “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.”

In a landmark decision, the Afghan Women’s Refugee Team have been granted permission to compete in official FIFA competitions, building on their debut in the FIFA Unites – Women’s Series 2025. President Infantino commented, “We are proud of the beautiful journey initiated by Afghan Women United, and with this initiative we aim to enable them… to make the next step.”

Furthermore, new regulations will be applied at the FIFA World Cup 2026. Players leaving the field in protest at a referee’s decision and those covering their mouths when speaking to opponents in confrontational situations will now face red cards, as approved by The IFAB Special Meeting. The yellow-card reset system has also been adjusted for the expanded tournament, with single yellow cards being cancelled after the group stage and again after the quarter-finals.