By Katharine Sharpe BBC Sport senior journalist Published 24 June 2026 Updated 26 June 2026 The prize money available at the 2026 World Cup is a record-breaking $871m (£662m).
Fifa initially announced the total pot would be $727m (£552m), which was already a 50% increase on the funds distributed at the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
But in April they approved a further increase to the pot, by increasing the base participation prize and the preparation fee, bringing it to the new total.
The prize money is split into performance-based rewards and non performance-based financial support.
Contact form Contact form Performance-based prizes The further teams progress in the tournament, the more they are rewarded financially.
Fifa will award teams finishing in each position as follows:
These payouts will form $703m of the $871m on offer in the prize pot, with the remaining $168m (£152m) being paid out among teams regardless of performance.
Image source, Getty Images Non performance-based prizes The remaining money will be spread evenly across all participating teams in the form of:
This means each team is guaranteed at least $12.5m for taking part in the tournament when combined with the minimum $10m qualification fee.
Preparation money is to contribute towards costs such as training camps and travel for squads pre-tournament.
Fifa describes 'additional team contributions' as 'subsidies for team delegation costs and increased team ticketing allocations', with the aim of reducing financial disparity between nations when paying for the costs associated with playing in the World Cup, such as travel, logistics and administration.
This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.
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Sources: BBC Sport
