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The U.S. men’s national team made $16 million from its round-of-16 run in the World Cup, which it’s set to split with next year’s women’s squad.
The 2022 collective bargaining agreement between players and U.S. Soccer says the men’s and women’s national teams will equally share World Cup prize money. The federation takes a 20% cut, then the men’s and women’s players split the remaining 80%, meaning each team will get $6.4 million from this men’s World Cup.
The women’s national team has yet to secure its spot in the 2027 women’s World Cup in Brazil, but can do so in November. Prize money for that tournament will be split with this year’s men’s team. The 26-person women’s team also has yet to be selected, and the $6.4 million will sit in an account earning interest until then. (The interest will also be split between the men and women.)
The CBA, which runs through 2028, was the result of years of effort by the women’s team to secure equal pay. The U.S. women have won the World Cup four times, while the men have not advanced past the round of 16 since 2002.
The women’s team sued the federation in 2019, and in 2022 won a $22 million settlement. (The men also got $11 million in back pay of their own after playing without a CBA for years.)
The men and women also both exited in the round of 16 in Qatar in 2022 and Australia in 2023, respectively. But the prize payouts from FIFA dramatically differed, despite the global governing body significantly increasing its prize money.
The men’s run in Qatar earned $13 million from FIFA, while the women’s payout was only $1.87 million for going just as far in the tournament. After the federation took a smaller 10% cut, all of that prize money was split between teams.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in 2023 that he wanted the 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s tournaments to have equal prize money. In April, FIFA announced it would pay $871 million in prize money and other payouts to the 48 teams playing in the expanded 2026 tournament, after initially setting that number at $727 million. FIFA has not yet announced its prize money for the 2027 women’s tournament.
The U.S. players each also get $10,000 per World Cup match from the federation.
Belgium knocked the U.S. out of the World Cup on Monday night in Seattle with a 4–1 blow. Belgium will make at least $20 million for reaching the quarterfinals, where the team will face Spain.
Semifinalists will make at least $28 million, third place gets $30 million, the runners-up will take home $34 million, and the champions will get $51 million. That’s up from the $42 million that FIFA awarded Argentina for winning in 2022.
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