PARIS, Dec 18 — The winners of the 2026 World Cup will receive US$50 million (RM200 million) in prize money as part of a record financial contribution for the tournament from Fifa, world football’s governing body announced yesterday.

The total World Cup prize fund of US$655 million represents an increase of almost 50 percent from the US$440 million distributed to teams taking part in the last tournament in Qatar in 2022.

However, next year’s World Cup — to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19 — will be the first to feature 48 teams, a 50 percent increase from the 32 teams last time.

The Argentine Football Association received US$42 million in prize money after Lionel Messi inspired them to glory three years ago, when they won on penalties in the final against France.

France received US$30 million for their run to the final. This time, the beaten finalists will pocket US$33 million, with the third-place finishers collecting US$29 million and the other defeated semi-finalists getting US$27 million.

Teams eliminated in the group phase will receive US$9 million, while all 48 participating nations will get an additional US$1.5 million to cover “preparation costs”.

On Tuesday, organisers unveiled a new cut-price ticket category after a wave of criticism from fans over pricing for the 2026 tournament.

Fifa said it had created a limited number of tickets priced at US$60 for all 104 matches, including the final.

It said the plan was “designed to further support travelling fans following their national teams across the tournament”.

Fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE), which last week called prices “extortionate” and “astronomical”, responded to the move by saying Fifa was offering too little.

It described the creation of the new ticket category as “nothing more than an appeasement tactic due to the global negative backlash” and claimed few fans would benefit.

“Based on the allocations publicly available, this would mean that at best a few hundred fans per match and team would be lucky enough to take advantage of the US$60 prices, while the vast majority would still have to pay extortionate prices, way higher than at any tournament before,” the group said. — AFP