World Cup
FIFA’s jumbo payment for Man City as club with highest number of Qatar World Cup players
For the second straight World Cup, Manchester City topped the list of FIFA payments to clubs whose players were selected for the 32 national teams in Qatar.
From the $209 million fund allocated by FIFA, the Premier League and Champions League winner received almost $4.6 million — eclipsing the total sent to the entire continent of Africa, which had five national teams at the World Cup. The list published Thursday showed a total of 18 African clubs combined to earn $4.57 million.
FIFA said 440 clubs in 51 countries were rewarded with payments funded by the governing body’s $7.5 billion income for the four-year commercial cycle mostly tied to the 2022 men’s tournament.
The project that was launched for the 2010 World Cup again starkly showed how clubs in soccer’s wealthiest and dominant continent have nurtured, lured and retained much of the best talent.
Clubs in UEFA member countries got $159 million, 76% of the total fund, and clubs in England accounted for $37.7 million, FIFA said.
A fifth-tier club in England, Boreham Wood, got more than double the FIFA payment — $31,026 vs $15,513 — due to Santos, the storied Brazilian team that was Pelé’s home and where Neymar started his career.
FIFA calculated the payments at a daily rate of $10,950 for each of 837 players doing duty in Qatar until the day after their team’s last game. Each player’s allocation was divided among clubs who held their registration since the 2020-21 season.
Man City was due payments for players ranging from Julián Álvarez and its former defender Nicolás Otamendi in Argentina’s title-winning team, six members of England’s quarterfinalist team and Belgium playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who exited in the group stage. City had received a list-leading $5 million from FIFA’s $209 million at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Barcelona was the next highest earner on the 2022 list with $4.54 million, including $131,405 for Lionel Messi’s time with the club in 2020-21 until leaving for Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern Munich’s share was more than $4.3 million, including payments for four players from runner-up France’s squad.
Though Italy did not qualify for the World Cup, 27 Italian clubs earned a total of $18.7 million from their foreign players. Juventus got more than $3 million, including $394,215 for France’s Adrien Rabiot and allocations from Argentina trio Ángel Di María, Leandro Paredes and Paulo Dybala.
A player with finalists Argentina and France who had been with the same club since the start of the 2020-21 season earned $394,215 for that club.
However, storied Argentinian club Boca Juniors is due just $32,851 for defender Nahuel Molina’s brief stay with the club in the 2020-21 season before moving to Europe. River Plate, Boca’s rival in Buenos Aires, was due $1.2 million.
Spanish clubs collectively earned $24.2 million, German clubs shared a little over $21 million and French clubs’ payout was $16.5 million.
Saudi Arabian clubs led the Asian list with $6.6 million and host nation Qatar’s clubs got $6.3 million. Clubs in the United States got $5.4 million, topped by $827,000 for the Seattle Sounders.
Morocco’s historic run as the first African team to reach the semifinals was achieved with many Europe-based players. Just two Moroccan clubs in Casablanca earned money from FIFA: $1.4 million to Wydad and $31,938 to Raja.
Just $20,075 went to a single club in Senegal, Génération Foot, for the 27 players in the national team squad that reached the round of 16 in Qatar. It included Sadio Mané, who withdrew injured before the first game.
FIFA payments from its World Cup revenues were agreed to as part of a settlement with an elite group of clubs that formed the European Club Association in 2008.
The fund total is negotiated when FIFA-ECA working agreements are renewed and will be $355 million for each men’s World Cup in 2026 and 2030.
The 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the first with 48 teams and an expected 1,104 players selected.
-AP
With just a year to go until the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off in the United States, concerns are mounting over the impact of extreme summer heat on players and fans.
According to experts interviewed by the BBC, FIFA may be forced to adjust match schedules drastically—possibly even staging the World Cup final as early as 9 a.m.—to mitigate the risks posed by soaring temperatures.
The warnings follow sweltering conditions witnessed during recent international and Club World Cup matches held in the U.S., where athletes and spectators alike were exposed to intense heat and humidity.
One of the leading voices raising the alarm is Professor Mike Tipton, an expert in thermal physiology at the University of Portsmouth. Speaking to BBC Sport, he emphasised the potential health risks of playing in extreme conditions and recommended that matches begin as early in the day as possible.
“From a thermo-physiological point of view, for health and performance reasons, I would look to start matches as early as possible,” Tipton stated, suggesting that even the final—traditionally held in the afternoon or evening—could be moved to a morning kickoff.
Tipton went further, noting that the ideal solution would be to host the tournament during a cooler time of year, as was done with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was shifted to November and December due to extreme heat.
However, with the 2026 tournament already locked in for June 11 to July 19, FIFA’s only remaining flexibility lies in scheduling match times.
The 2026 edition will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico across multiple cities, some of which are known for intense summer heat.
Health experts are urging organisers to prioritise player safety and fan well-being, warning that failing to act could lead to performance issues, heat-related illnesses, or worse.
FIFA has yet to publicly comment on any proposed changes to match schedules, but as temperatures continue to rise, pressure is mounting for the governing body to take decisive action ahead of football’s biggest tournament.
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FIFA’s Global Football Development chief Arsene Wenger acknowledged that the quality of pitches hosting Club World Cup matches in the U.S. was not good enough, but insisted it would be better when the country co-hosts the 2026 World Cup.
The pitches, often very dry and sprinkled with water during cooling breaks or at halftime, have been widely criticised, mainly by coaches and players of the European teams taking part.
“I’ve been personally on the pitch at Orlando,” former Arsenal manager Wenger said on Saturday. “It’s not at the level that the European clubs are used to because it’s not perfect, but that will be rectified for the World Cup next year.”
Paris St Germain coach Luis Enrique raised the issue early in the expanded Club World Cup tournament.
“The ball bounces like a rabbit,” Luis Enrique said after his team’s opening 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid.
“Today, for example, the field used to be artificial turf, and now it’s natural grass laid over it, which means it has to be watered manually. It’s a big problem for the way we play.”
“FIFA really needs to take this seriously. Not just the stadium fields but also the training pitches. If we’re calling this the best club tournament in the world, it should have world‑class facilities. I can’t imagine an NBA game played on a court full of holes.”
-Reuters
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Congo will be allowed to continue participating in the World Cup qualifiers despite missing two fixtures in March when they were banned, world football’s governing body FIFA said on Wednesday.
Congo were suspended from February to May because of government interference in the running of their football association (FECOFOOT) but the ban was lifted when officials returned to their positions and were handed back access to their headquarters and technical training centre.
Sports minister Hugues Ngouelondele had appointed an ad-hoc committee last year to run the association, claiming it needed to sort out disputes among association office bearers, but FIFA suspended FECOFOOT due to third-party interference, which violates its statutes.
During the ban, Congo were not allowed to participate in any international competition, which meant they did not honour 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Tanzania and Niger in March.
A FIFA spokesman told Reuters the points from those fixtures were forfeited and a 3-0 victory awarded to their opponents.
But they will continue in the qualifiers when they resume in September, even if they have no chance of qualifying.
Congo are scheduled to play Tanzania at home in September and conclude their fixtures in October with matches at Niger and Morocco.
Congo have no points in the group, which Morocco lead with 15 points, six more than Tanzania in second place.
The group winner qualifies for next year’s World Cup in North America while the runner-up has a possibility to participate in playoffs if they are among the four best second-placed teams in the nine African qualifying groups.
FIFA has taken a hard line on government interference in football matters with the likes of Chad, Kenya, Pakistan and Zimbabwe among those banned in recent years.
Congo were African champions in 1972 but have never been to a World Cup.
-Reuters
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