How much does the winner of the 2022 World Cup earn?
A colossal 440 million dollar cake to be shared among all the participants. This is the total prize money for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as FIFA announced two years ago in its annual report. A higher figure than that allocated for the already very rich 2018 World Cup in Russia, which makes this edition the richest ever in the history of football.
The highest share, of course, will go to the winner of the tournament, whose federation will collect around 42 million dollars, while the other finalist (runner-up) will take home 30. There is not much difference, however, between finishing third or quarters ($27 and $25 million, respectively).
The total amount will be divided among all the national teams that have qualified for the final tournament, each federation has already received 1.5 million dollars to cover organizational expenses (from travel to accommodation for the team and staff), while 9 million are the fixed fee for participation in the group stage only. The prize becomes more substantial for those who progressed, 13 million dollars for those who reached the round of 16, 17 million for those who progressed to the quarter-finals. But governments will also gain according to a study by the Dutch bank Abn Ambro, in fact, for a country, winning the World Cup can lead to GDP growth of 0.7%.
The awards at Russia 2018
Four years ago in Russia, the total prize pool for qualifiers was around $400 million, itself 40% higher than in the 2014 edition in Brazil. The entry prize was similar, the group stage was worth 8 million dollars, the final victory 38 and second place 28.
It is not so strange that the clubs to which the players belong earn (or be rewarded), since in the end, they are the ones who have invested money in the protagonists and paid them throughout the rest of the year. Thus, Fifa has allocated 209 million dollars for the 416 clubs that have loaned their players to their respective national teams each day spent in the tournament is reimbursed with 10,000 dollars.
To cheer on his Morocco , King Mohammed VI also took to the streets (literally), a fan like the others on the streets of Tangier after the victory over Spain. The sovereign’s limousine got stuck between two wings of cheering crowds, which for reasons of public order was not repeated after the success over Portugal. For qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar, the king had given a prize of 91 thousand euros to each player, who knows after the feat of reaching the semifinals how much it will amount because the various federations must subtract the agreed prize money from the total earnings with players.
Speaking of gifts, after the victory in the first match against Argentina the rumor had spread that the reigning prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud would have promised a Rolls-Royce Phantom worth almost 400,000 euros to each player. The Saudi Football Federation has denied this, saying that “Footballers played for the pride of representing their nation.” All nice, but a little gift for beating finalist Argentina could have been there.
This article was originally published on GQ (Italiana Edition)
