The FIFA world cup is the most viewed sport all over the world. if we look at the previous three World Cup stats the number of viewers of the world cup increased. Because FIFA Provides coverage of their matches on many tv screens and streams online.

As a result, FIFA earns a huge amount of money by selling its rights to international TV channels. This thing helps make it easier for FIFA to increase the FIFA world cup prize money.

On this page, we will look at the evolution in prize money of the FIFA world cup from 1982 to 2022. In the 1982 world cup, the prize money for the final match was $20 million.

But with the raised fame of the world cup, the prize money of the world cup increased and till is extended up to 440$ million. In the 2022 world cup, the prize money is set to 440$ million which is 40$ million big than of recent world cup in 2018.

Before starting a discussion on how prize money increases every year, we discuss how the prize money is distributed.

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What is FIFA World Cup Prize Money

Fifa makes money by selling their tv & Live stream rights globally for 4 years. FIFA also works with the sponsorships program for the world cup and the qualifying rounds. The money-making from the sale of the tickets to the world cup during these 4 years is also included in the prize money.

Let’s check the prize money stats from 2018 to 2022:

FIFA’s 4-year cycle Revenue (2018-2022)

FIFA world cup 2022 makes 3.5$ billion from selling TV & Media rights, and from sponsorships & retail activities earn 2.4$ billion. 1.1$ million makes by Selling tickets & providing hospitality packages.

Moreover, 890$ is made by the licensing fee which makes a total of 7.89$ billion in income from 2018 to 2022. Fifa world cup 2022 creates 85% of its earnings from tv rights and sponsorships.

Below we show the official stats of the 4-year cycle of the world cup from 2015 to 2018:

world cup stats from 2015 to 2018

Only the World Cup 2018 contributed 85% of this $6.42 billion. Fifa spent 420$ million on the tv coverage display, 400$ million on the admin costs, and 390$ million spent on mane the world cup 2018.

The Russian football union arranged the competition so he was awarded 120$ million. But, a big part of this amount was spent on helping the worldwide football unions. The prize money of FIFA world cup 2018 was 791$ million including the funds.

How to Prize Money Distributed:

FIFA World Cup prize money
Preparation money
Club Benefit program

Club Protection and insurance fee

The prize money is declared 6 months before starting the world cup. As we know, the FIFA world cup 2022 prize money has 440$ million set by FIFA. 45$ million will goes to the winning team and the losing team gets 32$ million. While the 32 national teams also get 2.5$ million as a security amount will be given by FIFA reveal.

The 3rd position team gets 26$ million and the 4th number team will receive 22$ million. Moreover, 26 million will award to the team who loses in the quarterfinal.

Every team who will knock out in round 16 gets the 12$ million. 10$ million are given to every team that is knocked out in the group stage.

Prize Money Comparison Between 2018 World Cup and 2022

Stage	Qatar 2022 World Cup	Russia 2018 World Cup
Club Benefit (payments)	$310 million	$170 million
Player Insurance Fee	$70 million	$100 million
Winners	$45 million	$38 million
Runners-up	$32 million	$25 million
3rd Place	$26 million	$20 million
4th Place	$22 million	$18 million
Quarterfinal (4 eliminated teams)	$16 million each	$14 million each
Round of 16 (8 eliminated teams)	$12 million each	$9 million each
Group Stage (16 eliminated teams)	$8 million each	$8 million each
Guaranteed Payments (all 32 teams)	$2.5 million each	$1.5 million each
Total prize money fund	$1 Billion	$791 million

History of FIFA World Cup Prize Money

World Cup	Hosts	Funds	Winning Team	Security Payment
World Cup 1982	Spain	$20m	$2.2m	–
World Cup 1986	Mexico	$26m	$2.8m	–
World Cup 1990	Italy	$54m	$3.5m	–
World Cup 1994	USA	$71m	$4m	–
World Cup 1998	France	$103m	$6m	–
World Cup 2002	Japan-Korea	$156.5m	$8m	100000
World Cup 2006	German	$266m	$20m	300000
World Cup 2010	South Africa	$420m	$30m	500000
World Cup 2014	Brazil	$576m	$35m	$1m
World Cup 2018	Russia	$791m	$38m	$1.5m
World Cup 2022	Qatar	$1 Billion	$45 million	$2.5 million

Every 4 years the prize money for the world cup has increased by up to 50%. In the 1982 world cup total of 20$ million was distributed among the 24 teams.

At the time of the world cup 1990, the prize money was 54$ million which was double that of the previous world cup. In the recent FIFA world cup 2018, the prize money was 791$ million, whereas winner team got 40$ million.