The winner of this summer’s Club World Cup could win as much as $125 million from the tournament’s $1 billion pot in total prize money, ensuring there will be a major financial incentive to participate in a competition that has been unpopular with many influential figures in the sport.
FIFA broke down the prize money specifics on Wednesday, organizing the $1 billion allocated to the Club World Cup in two categories – ones based on each team’s performance in the competition and prize money simply for participating, though different payments will be doled out based on the confederation each team hails from. The specific figures for European teams in the second category were determined by sporting and commercial criteria, according to FIFA.
See below for the prize money specifications.
Sporting performance pillar
|
Stage |
Earnings per club |
|
Group stage (three matches) |
$2 million per win, $1 million per draw |
|
Round of 16 |
$7.5 million |
|
Quarterfinals |
$13.125 million |
|
Semifinals |
$21 million |
|
Runners-up |
$30 million |
|
Winner |
$40 million |
Participation pillar
|
Confederation |
Earnings per club |
|
UEFA |
$12.81 – 38.19 million |
|
CONMEBOL |
$15.21 million |
|
Concacaf |
$9.55 million |
|
AFC |
$9.55 million |
|
CAF |
$9.55 million |
|
OF |
3.58 million |
The $1 billion prize purse is significantly larger than the $440 million FIFA handed out at the 2022 World Cup and comes with the help of the broadcast deal world soccer’s governing body struck with DAZN. The streamer’s global agreement to show the tournament is reportedly worth $1 billion and came weeks before the sporting arm of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund reportedly invested the same amount of money into DAZN. FIFA said its reserves, which sat at nearly $4 billion after the 2022 World Cup, will be untouched for this competition.
The huge prize purse, though, is perhaps a necessary expense considering how unpopular the Club World Cup is, especially in Europe. This tournament used to be an eight-team tournament mostly comprised of the winners of each confederation’s top club competition, but FIFA announced in 2023 that it would expand the Club World Cup to a 32 team format and moved to the summer. The first edition of the expanded Club World Cup has been put together in a seemingly haphazard manner, with FIFA only locking in venues in September and the broadcast deal with DAZN in December.
Most notably, though, the Club World Cup has been maligned by players and coaches across Europe over scheduling concerns. For several years now, many have complained that the sport’s organizers have put too many games on the schedule, endangering player welfare. Jurgen Klopp, the former Liverpool manager and current head of global soccer at Red Bull, described the tournament as “useless” in January, while England captain Harry Kane – who will compete at the Club World Cup with Bayern Munich – also expressed concerns this week.
“It’s a hard situation. There is arguments from the clubs’ point of view, to generate more money, because we probably earn more money,” he said, per The Athletic. “And there’s also a player welfare point where there’s only so much you can do without more injuries and more situations like that. I don’t think the players are listened to that much, if I’m totally honest, but everyone wants their piece, their tournament, their prize, and the players are the people who have to get on with it.”
The 2025 Club World Cup will take place across the U.S. from June 14 to July 13, with the final taking place at MetLife Stadium.
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