For the first time, players participating in the Women’s World Cup will be guaranteed pay by FIFA, The Equalizer has confirmed.
FIFA will pay out $110 million in total prize money to the 32 teams at the 2023 World Cup. Four years ago, the total prize money was $30 million for 24 teams.
Under the new guarantees, each player participating in the World Cup is guaranteed a minimum of $30,000. Players from the winning team will receive $270,000 each. The minimum guarantee of $30,000 per World Cup player more than doubles what FIFA determined to be the average global salary of paid players ($14,000) in a recent study.
The changes from FIFA come following a letter in October that was sent from world players union FIFPro to FIFA president Gianni Infantino asking for “equal framework of regulations and conditions” for the men’s and women’s World Cups, and at least a 30% increase in prize money from the 2019 World Cup.
In a statement issued on Thursday, FIFPro said:
“The confirmation of equal conditions and guaranteed per-player performance compensation at next month’s World Cup represents not only the outcome of tremendous global collective action by over 150 national team players, under the umbrella of FIFPRO and its member unions; but a constructive negotiation with FIFA over the past months. They have listened to the voice of the players and we have taken steps towards greater gender equity in our game at its highest levels. The legacy of this action is by the players, for the players, of both today and tomorrow.”
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FIFA will also expand the club benefits program that was introduced to the women’s game for the first time in 2019. The program pays registered clubs for their development of players who participate in the World Cup, from their current professional teams to the youth sides that once developed them. Funding for that program has increased by a total of $3 million (for 184 more players in this edition). Preparation money provided from FIFA to each participating team has also increased.
The total pot of money FIFA will distribute to 2023 World Cup teams through all three mechanisms will be $152 million, up from $50 million in 2019.
The overall breakdowns for 2023 Women’s World Cup pay are as follows (2019 comparison):
- Performance-based fund: $110 million ($30 million)
- Club benefits program: $11.5 million ($8.5 million)
- Preparation money: $30.7 million ($11.5 million)
NOTE: Comparisons are for 32 teams in 2023 and 24 teams in 2019. There was no guarantee in 2019 that prize money awarded to federations would go directly to players.
With players guaranteed to receive certain amounts of the prize money, the total performance funding for 2023 breaks down more specifically. For example, the total prize money for the 2023 World Cup-winning nation will be $10.5 million. From that, $6,210,000 will go directly to the players ($270,000 per player, times 23 per roster) and the remaining $4,290,000 is distributed to the federation.
That member-specific prize money outside of The player payments are expected by FIFA to be reinvested into the federation’s women’s soccer programs, from technical staff to youth national teams and grassroots projects.
Member association prizes after player-specific prizes are deducted:
Group stage: $1,560,000
Round of 16: $1,870,000
Quarterfinal: $2,180,000
Fourth place: $2,455,000
Third place: $2,610,000
Second place: $3,015,000
First place: $4,290,000
Per-player guaranteed pay based on team finishes:
Group stage: $30,000
Round of 16: $60,000
Quarterfinal: $90,000
Fourth place: $165,000
Third place: $180,000
Second place: $195,000
First place: $270,000
It is unclear how, if at all, this structure could affect agreements in place such as the one US Soccer has with its men’s and women’s national teams. In a recently ratified equal-pay agreementthe US men’s and women’s national teams pool their total World Cup prize money from the same cycle (2022 Men’s World Cup and 2023 Women’s World Cup, in this case) into one pot and divide it equally among the total players (49 for this cycle ).
Earlier this year, Infantino said that equal pay for the 2026 and 2027 World Cups “is the objective that we set to ourselves.” The FIFA president has been critical of broadcasters for what he considers insultingly low bids for the 2023 World Cup, which is in a challenging time zone for most of the rest of the world.
Formal bidding for the 2027 World Cup has begun. Among the four bids is a USA-Mexico joint bid. Notably, the US media rights for the 2027 World Cup have not yet been sold.
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