FIFA to Pay Clubs Over €9,000 Per Day Per Player for 2026 World Cup Releases
A landmark compensation programme set to distribute $355 million to clubs worldwide
Clubs around the world are set to receive significant financial rewards for releasing their players for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the governing body paying a daily rate of more than €9,000 per player — a move that marks a major step forward in the relationship between club and international football.
A Rising Rate of Compensation
The per-player daily rate has been steadily increasing over successive tournaments — rising from $8,530 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia to $10,950 at the 2022 edition in Qatar. With the total compensation pool for 2026 significantly expanded, the daily rate is expected to rise further still.
At Qatar 2022, FIFA paid the $10,950 daily rate for each of the 837 players at the tournament, regardless of how many minutes they played. The payments were distributed not just to the player’s current club, but split across clubs with which the player was registered in the preceding two years.
Record $355 Million Pool for 2026
As per a renewed Memorandum of Understanding signed between FIFA and the European Club Association (ECA) in March 2023, clubs releasing players for the 2026 World Cup will benefit from a total of $355 million — a record allocation for the Club Benefits Programme.
That figure represents a nearly 70% increase from the $209 million distributed after each of the 2018 and 2022 editions.
A Landmark Change: Qualifiers Now Included
Perhaps the most significant development for 2026 is that the compensation net has been cast wider than ever before.
For the first time since the programme’s inception, the distribution principles have been adjusted so that every club whose players feature in the World Cup qualifiers — not just the final tournament — will receive a share of the fund. Any club that releases a player for a 2026 qualifier will now be directly compensated for that release, irrespective of whether the player eventually appears at the finals themselves.
Compensation is calculated on a per-player, per-day basis, covering time away with national teams including preparation periods. Clubs also receive payments if a player named to a final squad is replaced due to injury before the first match.
Who Benefits Most?
At the 2022 World Cup, Manchester City received the largest payout of any single club at $4,596,445, followed by Barcelona ($4,538,955) and Bayern Munich ($4,331,809). In total, 440 clubs across 51 countries received payments.
With the 2026 edition expanding to 48 teams and therefore featuring more players, and with qualifiers now included in the scheme, thousands more clubs globally stand to benefit from the programme than ever before.
What FIFA and ECA Say
FIFA President Gianni Infantino described the enhanced programme as going “a step further by recognising financially the huge contribution that so many clubs and their players around the world make to the staging of both the qualifiers and the final tournament.”
ECA chairman Nasser Al-Khelaïfi added that the programme “will ensure even more clubs across the world are rewarded for releasing players,” calling it a reflection of how the ECA’s working relationship with FIFA supports the ongoing growth of the global club game.
The Bigger Picture
While the increased compensation is welcome, some critics note it still falls short of what the world’s biggest clubs contribute. FIFA is projected to generate a record-breaking $10 billion or more in revenue from the 2026 World Cup — meaning the $355 million club compensation pool represents a relatively modest share of that total.
Nevertheless, the direction of travel is clear. FIFA is increasingly acknowledging that clubs are the backbone of international football, and the 2026 Club Benefits Programme represents the strongest financial recognition of that reality to date.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup takes place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.