With a 1-0 victory over Iran, the United States men’s national team has finished second in Group B to move on to the 2022 World Cup knockout stage — and has secured a larger payday for the country.
By simply making the tournament, the Americans had accrued $9 million in prize money; by advancing to the knockout stage, they now stand to make $13 million.
From here, the USMNT can make increasingly more money for placing higher — and would take home $42 million for winning it all.
All in all, FIFA is offering $440 million in prize money for the 2022 World Cup — a $40 million increase from the 2018 tournament.
But for the first time, the U.S. men’s team won’t be keeping the money all to themselves.
That’s because, in May, the United States Soccer Federation and the men’s and women’s national teams agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement that will see the two teams pool and split evenly all prize money won.
The USWNT earned more from Tuesday’s victory ($6.5M) than their combined bonuses from World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019 ($6M).
The total prize pool for the 2019 Women’s World Cup was $30 million — but FIFA president Gianni Infantino has proposed doubling that for the 2023 tournament.
The players weren’t the only ones making money.
Just before Tuesday’s match, a bet for the United States to beat Iran had more money than any single bet thus far at the 2022 World Cup — attracting a huge 93% of the handle for the match at Caesars Sportsbook.
