FIFA details Club World Cup prize money with $125M target for the winner in $1BN fund

GENEVA (AP) — The winner of FIFA’s first 32-team Club World Cup in the United States could earn $125 million as details of a $1 billion prize money fund were finally published Wednesday.

FIFA said it allocated $525 million in guaranteed fees for teams taking part in the June 14-July 13 tournament, ranging from $38.19 million to the top-ranked European team to $3.58 million for the Oceania representative Auckland City.

A further $475 million is earned by results in the 63 games, with $2 million paid for winning group stage games, $7.5 million for playing in the round of 16 and $40 million to the team that wins the final at MetLife Stadium near New York.

The top-ranked European team — likely Real Madrid — that won all its group-stage games and advanced through the knockout rounds to win the title would get to $125 million.

The golden trophy has been sitting in the Oval Office at the White House this month after FIFA President Gianni Infantino delivered it to President Donald Trump, who was invited to present it to the winning captain.

The prize fund was delayed until a global broadcast deal was belatedly agreed in December with streaming service DAZN, which then got a major investment from a state-backed sports agency in Saudi Arabia. Fans can watched games for free on DAZN's website.

Saudi Arabia also was confirmed in December by FIFA as host of the men’s 2034 World Cup.

Each of the 12 European teams in the Club World Cup lineup will be paid at least $12.81 million as an entry fee for the first expanded edition of the four-yearly tournament. Payments will be decided by “a ranking based on sporting and commercial criteria,” FIFA said without providing details.

Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea also qualified by either winning a Champions League title from 2021 to 2024, or having consistent results in the competition over those four seasons.

Countries were capped at two entries, unless they had three Champions League winners. Salzburg of Austria qualified as the final European team, despite never advancing beyond the round of 16, because higher-ranked clubs like Liverpool and Barcelona were blocked by the country cap.

The six South American teams each will get a $15.21 million entry fee.

Teams from Africa, Asia and the CONCACAF region of North America — including Lionel Messi's Inter Miami, despite not winning the MLS Cup title last season — each will get $9.55 million for playing. Any team from these regions that wins the title will earn less than $100 million.

Leon of Mexico is currently contesting its removal from the competition by FIFA because it is in shared ownership with Pachuca which also qualified.

FIFA aims to share $250 million among clubs worldwide who did not qualify for the tournament. It is unclear how many clubs will be paid, or how much they will get.

The maximum prize of $125 million ranks below the English Premier League and UEFA's Champions League in soccer's prize money table.

Man City got 176 million pounds ($227 million) in prize money from the Premier League for winning the title last season.

In the 2022-23 Champions League prize list, the most recent published by UEFA, title-winning Man City got almost 135 million euros ($146 million). The competition's total prize fund has now risen by almost 25% for each season through 2027.

UEFA will pay out close to 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) among the 36 teams in the new expanded format that guaranteed eights games played instead of six.

The $1 billion Club World Cup prize pot is, however, more than double the $440 million FIFA shared among the 32 soccer federations whose teams played at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Sponsors who signed with FIFA for the club event in the two highest commercial tiers also have deals for the men's 2026 World Cup in the U.S. which will be co-hosted by Canada and Mexico.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer