Doha, Qatar –
Canada will leave the World Cup with $10.5 million from FIFA for its participation in the men’s soccer exhibition.
The 41st-ranked Canadians, who opened the tournament with a 1-0 loss to No. 2 Belgium, were knocked out of advancing to the knockout round after a 4-1 loss to Croatia on Sunday. Canada will go home after facing No. 22 Morocco on Thursday to complete Pool F.
Total prize money in the 32-country tournament in Qatar is US$440 million and teams that failed to advance from the group stage such as Canada, who finished 17-32, were each awarded US$9 million.
In addition, the 32 participants received $1.5 million before the tournament to cover preparation costs.
To put those earnings in context, Canada Soccer’s annual operating budget is C$30 million.
How much of the Canadian prize money goes to the players is part of ongoing labor talks for a first-ever collective bargaining agreement between the men’s players’ association and Canada Soccer. Both sides have said pay equity with the women’s team, which is negotiating a new deal, will be the cornerstone of the deal.
Canada’s participation in the World Cup, its first trip to the final since 1986, has already boosted the profile of the sport and likely sponsorships at home with millions of eyes on Canadian men.
The eventual winner in Qatar will collect US$42 million in prize money and the runner-up will win US$30 million.
That then narrows down to US$27 million for the third-place team, US$25 million for fourth-place, US$17 million each for the fifth through eighth-place teams, and US$13 million to finish ninth through eighth. 16.
The total purse for the 2018 tournament in Russia was $400 million, up from $358 million in 2014 in Brazil.
Jamie Lowery, a member of the 1986 World Cup team, said he earned C$1,000 for each of Canada’s three matches in the tournament in Mexico.
The American women won $4 million of the $30 million purse at the 24-team Women’s World Cup in France in 2019.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has proposed doubling prize money for the 2023 women’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand, which will feature an expanded field of 32 teams.
In November, Infantino told the FIFA Executive Summit in Doha that FIFA’s revenue at the end of the year would be $7.5 billion, more than $1 billion more than budgeted, and final spending is expected per year are 6,500 million dollars.
Infantino said the profit would be invested “in football immediately.”
—
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on November 27, 2022
