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The United States men's national team has earned $16 million for its Round of 16 appearance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Half of that money will go to the U.S. women's national team.
It's a breakdown that has shocked many on social media, who didn't know there was this 50-50 split coming in prize money.
It's not a secret, though. It's been an established practice dating back four years.
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Why do the U.S. men and women split World Cup prize money?
This is a part of their most recent collective bargaining agreement.
"Men's and women's players equally share World Cup prize money under terms of the collective bargaining agreements that were ratified by U.S. Soccer with both national teams in 2022," ESPN's Jeff Kassouf writes. "Those agreements were ratified following nearly six years of the women's national team publicly fighting and suing U.S. Soccer for equal pay. Per the CBAs, U.S. Soccer keeps 20% of the prize money from each World Cup, with the remaining 80% split equally between the men's and women's players who make their respective World Cup rosters. That 40% equates to $6.4 million per team, and $246,153.85 per player."
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The money is split between the 26 players on the U.S. men's 2026 roster and the 26 players who make the 2027 Women's World Cup roster for the United States.
The split does work the other way, as well, when the women play in their World Cup.
"U.S. Soccer pays both its men's and women's players $10,000 per World Cup match regardless of outcome," Kassouf writes. "Had the U.S. men defeated Belgium on Monday and advanced to the quarterfinals, they would have collected $20 million in prize money, which would have left $8 million for each of the men's and women's national team."
The winner of the 2026 FIFA World Cup will get $51 million.
More FIFA World Cup news:
- Why Norway brought 600 pounds of salmon to the World Cup
- An on-brand finish to Neymar's Brazil career
- Lionel Messi makes announcer lose his mind in 35-second goal call
- Jordan Henderson got injured celebrating England's win over Mexico
- Singing Hey Jude as Bellingham sets epic World Cup record
Billy Heyen
Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who spent his senior year following Jim Boeheim's basketball team around the country. His reporting work has also included extensive high school sports coverage at the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. Adventures in sports writing have also led to in-person coverage of the Buffalo Sabres, Cleveland Guardians, U.S. men's national soccer team and a variety of minor league baseball stories. When people ask if he's seen a movie, the answer is usually "No, I was probably watching sports." Even away from sports, his main hobby is running (much slower than any athlete in these pages).
Source: Sporting News
