Zurich, Switzerland – FIFA has revealed details of the distribution of financial returns allocated to clubs whose players participate in the 2026 World Cup, whether during the finals or the qualifying rounds for the tournament.
FIFA explained that clubs will receive financial compensation for each of the 1,248 players included in the finals squad. They will also benefit from their players’ participation in the 905 qualifying matches.
According to the established mechanism, clubs receive $2,360 for each match a player makes with his national team during the qualifiers. However, this is conditional on the player being registered with the club during that period.
In 2023, FIFA allocated $355 million to the Club Support Fund related to the 2026 World Cup. Of this, $250 million was earmarked for clubs that would send players to the finals. An additional $100 million was allocated to clubs whose players participated in the qualifiers, and $5 million was earmarked to cover administrative costs.
Thousands of clubs worldwide are expected to benefit from these payments, especially with 209 national teams participating in the qualifiers, excluding Eritrea and Russia, which were absent from international competitions.
At the club level, Chelsea leads the list with 21 players, followed by Bayern Munich with 18. Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal each have 16 players.
Outside of Europe, Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia has the most players represented at the 2026 Club World Cup with 12, the same number as Crystal Palace of England. Al-Hilal also surpasses Liverpool (11 players) and Real Madrid (10 players).
It is worth noting that FIFA began distributing World Cup revenues to clubs starting with the 2010 edition in South Africa. At that time, the fund was valued at $40 million. It then rose to $70 million at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, reaching its current record levels.
