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FIFA has increased payments to teams competing in the 2026 World Cup, raising the total distribution to $871 million, making it the most lucrative edition on record.
But the increased financial distributions, announced last Wednesday at the 36th FIFA Council meeting in Vancouver, Canada, come as the governing body faces criticism over ticket pricing and its commercial partnerships.
Under the new financial distribution structure, participating associations at the 2026 World Cup — set to be held across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada from 11 June — will each receive an additional $2 million, across:
That brings the minimum payout for each team to at least $12.5 million upon qualification, with additional prize money tied to performance in the tournament.
These payments are meant to defray some of the costs associated with qualifying and preparing for the quadrennial sporting tournament, including travel, training facilities and staff remuneration and are expected to be particularly meaningful to teams outside of the sport's traditional powerhouses, according to Ricardo Fort, founder of sport consultancy Fort Consulting.
"This incremental contribution to the national football associations reinforces FIFA's role in redistributing the commercial success of the tournament back into the global football ecosystem," Fort said.
The 2026 edition of the World Cup is set to be the largest-ever, expanding to 48 teams, up from 32 in 2022. Four national teams — Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan — are set to make their debuts at this year's edition.
FIFA said more than $16 million has also been set aside to cover the costs of participating delegations and team ticketing allocations, bringing the total pool set aside for participating teams to $871 million.
Football's governing body previously announced a more than 50% increase in the tournament's prize pool in December.
In December, the FIFA Council approved a "record-breaking" prize pool of $727 million at the 2026 edition of the tournament, a 65% increase from the $440 million allocated to teams in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Despite the higher payouts at this year's tournament, fans have expressed gripes over ticket pricing and the sources of FIFA's revenue.
Under FIFA's new "dynamic" pricing system, ticket prices fluctuate on demand. Some fans have reported that ticket prices have risen by more than tenfold from the 2022 tournament.
A CNBC review of ticket prices revealed prices ranging from $380 for a Category 2 ticket for a group stage match between Curaçao and Côte d'Ivoire in Philadelphia, to $4,105 for Category 1 tickets to a game between the U.S. and Paraguay at the Los Angeles Stadium.
On FIFA's official ticket resale platform, some listings have reached extreme levels, with one such resale ticket for the final listed at $11.5 million. While FIFA does not control the prices of resale tickets, a 15% fee on the value of each transaction is collected.
A FIFA spokesperson told CNBC that the organization was "focused on ensuring fair access to our game for existing but also prospective fans, and offered group stage tickets starting at $60."
These lower-cost tickets, however, were allocated "specifically to supporters of qualified teams, with the selection and distribution process managed individually by the Participating Member Associations ."
The spokesperson added that the variable pricing system "aligns with industry trends across various sports and entertainment sectors," and ensures a "fair market value for events."
Despite outrage over ticket prices, demand for tickets at this year's World Cup ostensibly remains high.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino previously told CNBC that the organization has received around 508 million requests for the seven million tickets on offer across the tournament's 104 matches.
If true, in-person viewership at this year's World Cup would dwarf attendance at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, which drew more than 3.4 million spectators across all 64 matches.
"Ticket pricing is always a sensitive topic for mega-events of this scale," Fort said. "There will always be segments of fans who feel priced out, especially for premium matches."
Still, he said FIFA's pricing strategy "has worked in the American market," given the high demand.
Fans appear to have paid little attention to FIFA's other controversies, including a sponsorship deal with Saudi Arabia's Aramco and the awarding of the FIFA Peace Prize to U.S. President Donald Trump.
"Historically, what we've seen is that fan engagement with the tournament itself remains incredibly resilient. Once the competition starts, the focus shifts very quickly to the football," said Fort.
FIFA's finances have also grown alongside the tournament. In 2025, the governing body's revenues totaled $2.66 billion, with television broadcasting rights accounting for a large portion, followed by marketing rights.
Its total assets rose to $9.48 billion, up 54% from the year before. Total reserves, however, fell to nearly $2.7 billion, down by 8% year over year as total liabilities more than doubled in 2025.
Officially a not-for-profit, FIFA's investments are funneled to infrastructure across its 211 member nations, as well as the organization of tournaments such as the World Cup and Club World Cup, according to the Association's 2027-2030 budget.