Leaders of soccer’s World Cup have taken steps to address concerns over compensation for many players, but the fight for equal treatment and pay equity for the players of the U.S. Women’s national team remains at the forefront ahead of this year’s tournament.
The prize money for the men’s World Cup in Qatar, which took place recently, amounted to $440 million, which is four times higher. However, a significant portion of the increase in the women’s tournament is attributed to greater sponsorships and newly acquired broadcasting rights. Initially, the Women’s World Cup had a mere $30 million prize money, but FIFA decided to raise it to $110 million. FIFA, the global governing body of soccer and the organizer of the World Cup, made this decision.
The total cash reward of the World Cup will guarantee that players will receive a portion, a decision taken to distribute funds for players and associations individually in FIFA’s past. Athletes from various countries labored to obtain their portion of the payment, yet female players.
“Expressed during a press briefing in June, Alex Morgan, one of the co-captains of the U.S. Team, stated that the significance of each player earning a minimum of $30,000 cannot be overstated. This is because typically such funds are allocated to federations, and players do not receive a substantial portion, if any, of it.”
Instead of relying on FIFA to determine their share of the prize money secured in the tournament, the U.S. Soccer Federation will follow the terms set out in their contract and will not set a minimum higher than what FIFA has already established. However, Morgan and her teammates will stand apart from most worldwide players.
In the previous year, a fresh labor contract was agreed upon, whereby the portion of the tournament earnings for U.S. Athletes – approximately $300,000 per player even prior to commencing the game, and increasing thereafter – originates. The athletes representing the U.S. Women’s and men’s national teams are combining their efforts and evenly distributing the prize money obtained from their respective World Cups. This occurrence is unparalleled in the history of soccer.
FIFPro, the global players’ association, recruited Sarah Gregorius, who had recently competed in the 2019 Women’s World Cup with New Zealand, as the head of worldwide strategy for women’s football upon her arrival in the Netherlands.
Gregorius stated, ‘I was aware that we had a span of four years to prepare ourselves.’ One of the initial matters that I encountered was remuneration, as there had been extensive discussion during the previous World Cup regarding equitable remuneration and identical prize funds.
The amounts distributed with the labor contracts were based on the terms of their agreements. In turn, the federations distributed prize money. Organizations like the Football Association in England and the U.S. Soccer Federation are referred to as FIFA, which governs soccer in each country.
As per FIFPro, around two-thirds of the national teams participating in this World Cup for women lack a collectively negotiated agreement, which would have given federations the freedom to allocate the funds as they deemed appropriate. The payment system, which Gregorius and others found problematic, was such that despite FIFA providing progressively higher amounts as prize money, there was no assurance that the players would receive a greater portion, or even any remuneration at all.
Players would receive a minimum award of at least 30 percent, and FIFA declared on June 8th that it had agreed to distribute prize money separately to both federations and players. One of the requests in a letter sent by FIFPro to FIFA on behalf of 150 players from 25 national teams in October was an assured minimum payment for players.
There are a few soccer federations, including U.S. Soccer, that will operate outside of the FIFA agreement. Australia will follow both the terms of its own collective bargaining agreement and the FIFA model, awarding players whichever percentage of the FIFA prize money is higher. Japan has a payment model in which the percentage of the prize money payout that goes to male and female players is similar.
Jason deVos, the interim general secretary of Canada Soccer, stated that the offer made to their players aims to create parity in compensation and the level of support provided for players in both programs. As of Thursday, it seems that Canada Soccer and its players are nearing an agreement of their own.
FIFA agreed to standardize the venues and facilities conditions, as well as travel conditions, for both the women’s and men’s World Cup. Additionally, the global players’ union FIFPro sought to share the pay.
During the years 2026 and 2027, Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, also made a spoken promise to balance the reward funds for both male and female participants in anticipation of the upcoming World Cup cycle.
Some players were concerned about the absence of a specific timeframe for receiving the funds and FIFA’s supervision of this procedure. The federations will have the responsibility of distributing the prize money to the players, and it will still be delivered to them. Nonetheless, there is lingering doubt, particularly among players who have traditionally experienced a lack of support from their federations.
Cheyna Matthews, a Jamaica forward, expressed, “It’s pleasant to witness the assured player compensations, but there is also a slight sense of uncertainty.” “In the end, we are uncertain about the manner in which we will receive payment, or if it needs to occur within this year. There are possibilities for this to be potentially altered.”
Players will receive payment in cases where an exact timeframe for payment cannot be provided, but a representative from FIFA affirmed that the funding will be reviewed for accuracy.
U.S. Women’s national team will not depend on FIFA
Every single player in the U.S. Camp signed a letter to FIFPro in October, expressing their concern that the terms of the labor agreement proposed by FIFA would offer them very little compensation, despite the fact that Soccer U.S. And U.S. Players will have their own significant labor agreement in place.
After a long and contentious battle, the U.S. Soccer Cup World prize money was formalized to be shared equally between the men and women, with new contracts being signed.
The team men’s will distribute a portion of their roster to the players on the Games qualification Cup World and the team women’s will equally distribute a portion of their roster to the players on the roster Cup World this year. The rest is split 50-50 between the national women’s and men’s teams; Soccer U.S. Takes a 10 percent cut from each team.
No other federation distributes its World Cup prize money in this manner. Additionally, certain federations have made efforts to ensure fair compensation for other aspects such as match fees and travel expenses.
Morgan stated, “It is the responsibility of FIFA and other associations to fulfill their role. Presently, it is capable of achieving that and we are extremely pleased that we advocated for it. We are the sole association globally that follows this practice, namely a collective fund. In our agreement, we have identical prize funds for both the male and female athletes.”
During the World Cup, additional bonuses are offered for players who appear in a game, including those from Denmark and the United States. American players receive $10,000 regardless of whether the team wins or loses the match. On the other hand, Denmark pays its players varying amounts, ranging from $15,000 to $1,500, depending on the round.
Gregorius stated, “No other country is matching the level of support provided to the players like the United States,” further mentioning that numerous unions and players’ associations are currently engaged in discussions to improve the terms of revenue sharing for players. FIFA only recently introduced the new payment system in June.
She added that the aspiration was that the FIFA agreement “is regarded as a minimum standard instead of a maximum limit.”
The Times New York contacted every federation appearing at this World Cup to ask about the specific figures or details that they would not disclose, but were told that they exceeded the minimums outlined in the FIFA agreement. The Times also reached out to inquire about the prize money and player compensation.
Gustavo Araya, the general secretary of the Costa Rican Football Federation, expressed in an email that the federation is fully compliant with FIFA’s standards in this domain. Additionally, he mentioned that due to confidentiality reasons, it is not feasible to discuss the financial details or the intricacies of the payment system implemented by Costa Rica’s soccer federation.
If the U.S. Women emerge victorious in the tournament, the players on the U.S. Men’s team will receive a substantial six-digit payment. The U.S. Men’s team will be the unexpected beneficiaries of this year’s Women’s World Cup.