Spain captured its second men’s FIFA World Cup title on July 19 with a 1-0 extra-time victory over Argentina at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Along with lifting soccer’s most coveted trophy, Spain’s football federation earned a record $51 million in prize money under FIFA’s expanded compensation structure.
Record Winning Purse
The team’s win was marred by controversy involving U.S. President Donald Trump, who remained on the podium during Spain’s celebration. Video from the event appeared to show several Spanish players maneuvering around the president as they prepared for the traditional team photo and trophy lift, while FIFA President Gianni Infantino was also seen signaling for Trump to step aside.
Social media was not kind to Trump’s gesture.
“It’s a miracle trump let go of the trophy. He’s a complete embarrassment,” said one X user.
Another posted: “So embarrassing yet MAGA still can’t see it. But it’s not a cult”. And one user wrote, ” Hey Grandpa, you gotta get off the stage. This is not about you. Come on, we have some nice porridge over here for you to gum your way through….”
The trophy presentation and Trump’s role in it quickly became a trending topic online, with many fans noting that some of Spain’s official social media posts and photographs appeared to crop Trump out of images celebrating the team’s World Cup victory.
The runner-up, Argentina, received $34 million, while third-place finisher England earned $30 million after defeating France, which collected $28 million for fourth place.
The payouts are part of FIFA’s record-breaking $871 million prize fund for the expanded 48-team tournament, nearly double the $440 million distributed during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The governing body increased the overall purse by more than $100 million earlier this year after several European football federations argued that the cost of competing in a tournament spread across the United States, Canada, and Mexico had significantly increased travel and lodging expenses.
Every nation that qualified for the tournament received at least $12.5 million, including $10 million for reaching the group stage and an additional $2.5 million to cover training and preparation costs before the competition began.
Performance-based prize money was distributed as follows: Champion: $51 million; Runner-up: $34 million; Third place: $30 million; Fourth place: $28 million; Quarterfinalists (5th-8th): $20 million each; Round of 16 (9th-16th): $16 million each; Round of 32 (17th-32nd): $12 million each; and Group Stage (33rd-48th): $10 million each.
In addition to prize money, FIFA also covers business-class airfare, hotel accommodations for official delegations, domestic transportation and other tournament-related logistics, easing some of the financial burden of competing on soccer’s biggest stage.
