As the dusts of surprises and excitements raised by the just concluded 2022 World Cup in Qatar won yesterday by Argentina via penalty shootout begin to settle, available statistics from the organisers, the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) showed that the total prize money for all participating teams at the mundial is $440 million.
As usual, the 2022 tournament featured 32 teams from various countries across the globe.
13 countries from Europe, five African teams, four North American countries, four countries from South America and six countries from Asia.
2022 World Cup Statistics in a glance
The teams that exited the World Cup at the group stage – Qatar, Ecuador, Wales, Iran, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Tunisia, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Costa Rica, Serbia, Cameroon, Ghana, Uruguay – all earned $9 million each
The teams that made it through to the round of 16 – USA, Senegal, Australia, Poland, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea – all earned $13 million each
While those that reached the quarter-finals -Brazil, Netherlands, Portugal, England – earned $17 million each.
Fourth place team Morocco, earned $25 million
Third-placed team Croatia earned $27 million
The runner-up between Argentina or France will earn $30 million, while the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner will earn $42 million.
This is an increase of $40m compared to the 2018 tournament.
Prior to 2006, World Cup-winning teams never pocketed more than $10m, with 1982 champions Italy walking away with an estimated $2.2m for their efforts.
In 2002, there was a big push from national teams for FIFA to increase the prize money on offer. Below are the prize monies won since 1982 up until 2022;
How World Cup Year Prize money increased on each tourney
(USD)
2022 $42m
2018 $38m
2014 $35m
2010 $30m
2006 $20m
2002 $8m
1998 $6m
1994 $4m
1990 $3.5m
1986 $2.8m
1982 $2.2m
The tournament officially ended on Sunday December 18, 2022, after the Argentines led by its Captain, Lionel Messi swept penalties following 3-3 after 120 minutes.
