Clubs Receive $355 Million for Releasing Players Ahead of the 2026 World Cup

FIFA has announced that clubs will receive a minimum of $5,000 per day for each player who takes part in the 2026 World Cup.

This payment will be made for the entire period of the player’s involvement, beginning on the day they are officially released.

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The compensation will be distributed to all eligible clubs worldwide, ensuring that even lower‑tier clubs that develop international talent receive a direct financial return when their players are called up.

The details were published on FIFA’s official website, where the governing body described the scheme as a more inclusive and equitable system that, for the first time, compensates clubs for releasing players during World Cup qualifying matches.

According to FIFA, the FIFA Council has approved a $355 million fund under the renewed memorandum of understanding between FIFA and the European Football Clubs (EFC), a 70 percent increase over the 2022 programme.

FIFA estimates it will pay $2,362 for each player in a match‑day squad across the 905 qualifying games and for the 10 friendlies played by each of the three host nations, which did not need to qualify.

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The remaining $5 million will cover administrative costs, with any balance “allocated to the benefit of global club football.”

“This is another benefit from the expanded FIFA World Cup – providing more support across the entire football ecosystem to the clubs that provide all the players who compete to shine on the global stage,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino in the press release explaining the programme.