As the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 comes to an end today, Sunday, December 18th, a whopping $440 million is the prize money for participating teams at the global tournament.
Argentina will later this evening square it out with defending champions, France in the finals of the cup.
FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
32 teams from various countries across the globe were featured in the tournament.
There are 13 countries from Europe, five African teams, four North American countries, four countries from South America, and six countries from Asia.
The teams that exited the World Cup at the group stage – Qatar, Ecuador, Wales, Iran, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Tunisia, Canada, Belgium, Germany, Costa Rica, Serbia, Cameroon, Ghana, and Uruguay – all earned $9 million each
The teams that made it through to the round of 16 – USA, Senegal, Australia, Poland, Spain, Japan, Switzerland, and South Korea – all earned $13 million each
While those that reached the quarter-finals -Brazil, Netherlands, Portugal, England – earned $17 million each.
Fourth-place team Morocco earned $25 million
Third-placed team Croatia earned $27 million
The runner-up between Argentina and France will earn $30 million, while the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner will earn $42 million.
This is an increase of $40m compared to the 2018 tournament.
According to reports, before 2006, World Cup-winning teams never pocketed more than $10m, with 1982 champions Italy walking away with an estimated $2.2m for their efforts.
Reports further say in 2002, there was a big push from national teams for FIFA to increase the prize money on offer.
Below are the prize monies won from 1982 up until 2022;
Year Prize money (USD)
2022 $42m
2018 $38m
2014 $35m
2010 $30m
2006 $20m
2002 $8m
1998 $6m
1994 $4m
1990 $3.5m
1986 $2.8m
1982 $2.2m
In other news, Kanyi Daily reported that the Ebonyi State Government has approved the sum of N111 billion for indigenes to celebrate Christmas and also named the new Olympic stadium in Abakaliki, after the late military head of state, Sani Abacha.