FIFA World Cup 2026 prize money: How much will Argentina and Spain receive?

The FIFA World Cup 2026 will see the reigning Euro Cup champions Spain take on the reigning Copa America champions at the New Jersey New York Stadium on July 19, 2026 (July 20, 2026 12:30 am IST).

In this historic tournament, which saw 48 teams compete for the biggest prize in football, for the first time ever, there is a $655 million prize pool, which is a 50% increase from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Breakdown of the FIFA World Cup 2026 prize money

On Sunday, Spain and Argentina will meet in the World Cup final. While defending champions Argentina will look forward to for their fourth World Cup trophy, Spain will fight for their second star.

Once the final whistle blows, FIFA will hand out the lucrative prize money to the 2026 champions and runners-up from the whopping $655 million prize pool. Additionally, the third and fourth placed teams will also receive significant amount of prize money.

While it will take a few more hours for the world to know who ends up as the 2026 World Cup champions and which team has to settle for the second position, the third-place match has been played out. In a thrilling 10-goal contest, England defeated France 4-6, winning the bronze medal for finishing third (their best finish since 1966) and France came fourth.

FIFA had announced their prize money fund back in December, a record in football history. According to the governing body, the breakdown of the prize money between the top four teams, is as follows:

World Cup champions: $50 million

Runners-up: $33 million

Third place team (England): $29 million

Fourth place team (France): $27 million

Prize money is allocated for all teams that participated in the tournament, with the amount varying depending on whether the country exited from the group stage or any of the knock-out stages.

How is the prize money shared?

The FIFA World Cup prize money doesn't go to the players representing the countries. Instead, it is received the football associations and governing body of each nation. Once the prize money is handed out, the sole discretion of how the fund will be shared, lies on the respective associations.

Usually, the fund is shared among all the players, coaches and support staff and if there is any excess or remaining money, they are either donated or invested in various programs aimed at developing football in the the country.

For more updates, join/follow our WhatsApp, Telegram and YouTube channels.