Only 3 clubs will earn more than Arsenal from FIFA’s World Cup payouts

Only three clubs will earn more than Arsenal in FIFA’s World Cup payouts, according to analysis of the Club Benefits Programme.

Chris Weatherspoon reports for The Athletic that FIFA will pay out $355m (£265m) to clubs that release players for participation in the 2026 World Cup, a 70% increase on previous tournaments.

Of that money, $250m will go towards the actual tournament, whilst another $100m will reward clubs that released players for qualifiers. The remaining $5m will be “allocated to the benefit of club football”.

FIFA pays on the basis of how many days players are at the World Cup, with clubs entitled to roughly $5,000 per day, per player. The Athletic have calculated that this means Arsenal are owed $3.3m (£2.46m) in total.

That puts Arsenal fourth in the overall standings, with Manchester City earning $4.4m, Barcelona earning $3.9m, and Bayern Munich earning $3.4m.

The Athletic point out that Arsenal would have earned around $500,000 more from FIFA if they hadn’t participated in the Champions League final, as their involvement meant releasing their players to their national teams five days late.

But the report also highlights that Arsenal earned far more than $500,000 by making the final, so it was still a net financial positive to be involved.

Arsenal’s figure of roughly £2.5m isn’t anything transformative to the club’s summer transfer business, but it’s not nothing. That money could be significant if invested in an academy signing, for example.

It’s also simply a sign of the fact that Arsenal players had another strong international tournament. It’s no accident that eight Gunners were involved at the World Cup until the final weekend.

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