FIFA will pay Major League Soccer clubs over $7m for their respective player’s participation in the 2022 World Cup as part of the FIFA Club Benefits Program.
Only 25 out of the 29 clubs will receive payments for their players featuring at the biggest sporting event in the world, with Austin FC, Portland Timbers, Sporting Kansas City, and St. Louis City not having any players in the tournament.
The league saw 36 of its players earn their spot at the competition in Qatar, where Atlanta United‘s Thiago Almada lifted the coveted trophy for Argentina, becoming the first ever current MLS player to do so.
FIFA paid clubs about $10,950 per day while their players were at the World Cup, and the amount of playing time that each player had didn’t effect the payments from the organization. For the upcoming 2026 World Cup – being jointly-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States- will the the Club Benefits Program increase to $355m from $209m, the total amount that will be paid to clubs around the world.
Here’s how the 25 clubs that received payments stack up against each other…
