Moscow: On Sunday, France defeated Croatia in the 2018 FIFA World Cup. This means Les Bleus will take home $38 million in prize money, and Croatia will take home $28 million in prize money.
‘Les Blues’ have received a whopping 38 million USD, which is approximately 255 Crores in Indian rupees.
In 2017, the FIFA Council announced that the organization’s total contributions to fund the 2018 World Cup would be a whopping $791 million — a 40 percent increase from the previous tournament in 2014. Of this total, $400 million will be used exclusively as prize money for participating teams — a 12 percent increase.
This increase in funding means that France is set to win more prize money than ever before in World Cup history.
According to Time, the prize money is given to each country's national FIFA federation. These organizations determine how the winnings will be distributed and how much each individual player will receive.
The World Cup trophy is estimated to be worth $20 million. While the winners don't get to keep the trophy indefinitely, the fame and publicity associated with winning the World Cup can lead to corporate sponsorships, advertising deals and hefty contracts.
Of course, France and Croatia are not the only teams who will be taking cash home from the World Cup. All teams that advanced to the group stage receive a minimum of $8 million in prize money, as well as $1.5 million to “cover preparation costs.”
5-time Ballon’Dor (World’s best footballer of the year title) winner Lionel Messi, who has won it all with his boyhood Club, FC Barcelona, is still longing to get his hands on the 18-carat gold trophy and is willing to trade his accolades at Catalan club to win something big for his nation, Argentina.
“Winning the World Cup is a huge personal challenge for me, for the group [of players Argentina have] and for the country, who have the same dreams as us,” he told El Trece. “It’s a nice responsibility to represent a whole country at a World Cup.
“I would swap a title with Barcelona for one with the national team. While I want to win things again with my club, I want to win something with the national team.
“I know it would be special for what it means, to be [world] champions with Argentina would be different to everything, it would be something unique.”
The emotions associated with the World Cup lasts a lifetime, but it will not be the only thing the participating teams will look to play for this summer. The lucrative prize money which is distributed across all the participating teams’ increases with progression out of each round and fosters an extra boost. There is an additional prize money for teams that qualify from the group stages and then from the next round and so on, and so forth, till the final round (The Grand Finale).
The FIFA confirmed that there will be a 40 per cent increase in overall distribution of prize money this year as compared to the 2014 World Cup.
‘As approved by the FIFA Council at its meeting in Kolkata on 27 October 2017, the total contributions for the participants of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ will amount to USD 791 million, up 40 per cent compared to the previous edition in 2014. From this total, the biggest share –USD 400 million (as opposed to 358 million in 2014)- will be paid as prize money to be distributed among the 32 participating teams. (FIFA Official Website).
In the 2014 World Cup, Germany, the winners, engrossed 35 million USD, this year the amount has been increased to 38 million USD (Rupees 288 crores approx.). However, the teams who will face group stage exits will be subjected to 8 million USD (Rupees 53 Crores), which would be the same as 2014.
Most footballers representing their countries in the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2018 are under contract from various clubs across the world and will be most likely to miss out on the pre-season matches and training; Particularly players from those nations which would progress to the later stages of the tournament. The rigorous training regime and matches in the World Cup could also result in fatigue of several star players which impacts the club’s performance for the upcoming 2018-19 season. FIFA has thus allotted 209 million USD as a part of the ‘Club Benefit Programme’ to all the clubs releasing players to the participating teams in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
In addition to this, there has also been another 134 million USD earmarked for the Club Protection Programme (CPP), by which clubs are compensated for losses incurred due to players being injured while on international duty.
Here’s how the prize money breaks down:17th-32nd place: $8 million
Ninth-16th place: $12 million
Fifth-Eighth place: $16 million
Fourth place: $22 million
Third place: $24 million
Second place: $28 million
First place: $38 million
