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 massive money by selling its rights to international TV channels. This helps make it easier for FIFA to increase the FIFA World Cup prize money.

This page 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 rising fame of the World Cup, the prize money increased and extended up to 440$ million. In the 2022 World Cup, the prize money is $ 440$ million, which is $40 million bigger than the 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 made money by selling their TV and livestream rights globally for four years. FIFA also works with the sponsorships program for the World Cup and the qualifying rounds. The money-making from selling the tickets to the World Cup during these four 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 and media rights, and from sponsorships & retail activities earns $2.4 billion. 1.1$ million made 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:

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 managing 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 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 six months before the World Cup. As we know, the FIFA World Cup 2022 prize money is 440$ million set by FIFA. $45 million will go to the winning team, and the losing team gets $32 million. The 32 national teams will also earn #2.5 million as a security amount by FIFA.

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

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

Prize Money Comparison Between 2018 World Cup and 2022

Stage	2022 World Cup	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 four years, the prize money for the World Cup has increased by up to 50%. The 1982 World Cup, $20 million was distributed among the 24 teams.

At the time of the World Cup 1990, the prize money was $ 54$ million, double that of the previous World Cup. The recent FIFA World Cup 2018, the prize was $791 million, whereas the winning team got $40 million.