Comparative analysis of 2022 World Cup prize money and the previous tournaments

The 1982 World Cup hosted in Spain was the first iteration to include prize money.

As you might expect, the total awarded to the teams competing at the tournament has changed significantly in the last 40 years with the winners four decades ago receiving a relatively paltry $2.2m.

That has increased with every tournament — with a significant spike between 2002 and 2006 — to a stage where this year’s winner will receive $42m from FIFA.

Here is how every winning team has been rewarded in the last 40 years.

World Cup winners’ prize money

• 1982 World Cup | Winners: Italy  — $2.2m
• 1986 World Cup | Winners: Argentina  — $2.8m
• 1990 World Cup | Winners: West Germany — $3.5m
• 1994 World Cup | Winners: Brazil — $4m
• 1998 World Cup | Winners: France — $6m
• 2002 World Cup | Winners: Brazil — $8m
• 2006 World Cup | Winners: Italy — $20m
• 2010 World Cup | Winners: Spain — $30m
• 2014 World Cup | Winners: Germany — $35m
• 2018 World Cup | Winners: France — $ 38m
• 2022 World Cup | Winners: TBC — $42m

Meanwhile here is how the total prize pot has looked at the World Cup in the last 20 years (as the data is only available from 2002 onwards).

World Cup total prize money

• 2002 World Cup | Hosts: Japan & South Korea — $134m
• 2006 World Cup | Hosts: Germany — $236m
• 2010 World Cup | Hosts: South Africa — $348m
• 2014 World Cup | Hosts: Brazil  — $358m
• 2018 World Cup | Hosts: Russia — $400m
• 2022 World Cup | Hosts: Qatar — $440m