Players from winning team at Women’s World Cup will get $400k each

The incentive for the Matildas to win a home World Cup is already there but a significant extra carrot has been confirmed.

Matildas captain Sam Kerr is one of the headline acts at the World Cup. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

World Cup victory for the Matildas would earn every player more than $400,000 under FIFA’s new guidelines for the distribution of record funds that will top $165m.

As FIFA confirmed more than one million tickets had been sold for the World Cup, being played in Australia and New Zealand, the cash windfalls for all teams were revealed.

Players from the winning team will each receive $404,000, with every player involved in the tournament guaranteed to receive at least $45,000.

The payouts will come from an overall performance-based fund for the finals of $165m, more than three times what was on offer at the 2019 World Cup in France, with the players sharing more than 44 per cent of that.

Matildas player Courtney Nevin and former US goalkeeper Briana Scurry at the unveiling of the Women’s World Cup Trophy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

World players’ union FIFPRO praised FIFA “for listening to the voice of players” on the issue of pay after a group of 150 players from 25 national team wrote to the governing body last October calling for equal conditions and a guarantee that at least 30 per cent of prize money would be allocated to players.

“The confirmation of equal conditions and guaranteed per-player performance compensation at next month‘s World Cup represents not only the outcome of tremendous global collective action by over 150 national team players, under the umbrella of FIFPRO and its member unions, but a constructive negotiation with FIFA over the past months,” FIFPRO said in a statement.

“They have listened to the voice of the players, and we have taken steps towards greater gender equity in our game at its highest levels. The legacy of this action is by the players for the players of both today and tomorrow.”

It’s understood FIFA president Gianni Infantino has set a target for equal prize money at the 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s World Cups.

But that would be dependent on broadcast deals, and as it stands some key markets – including the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain – are yet to agree to terms for the upcoming World Cup.

Last month Infantino described some of the offers FIFA had received as “a slap in the face” for the women‘s game.

Despite those issues, the World Cup is on track to become the most attended stand-alone women’s sporting event ever.

Fans have bought more than one million tickets for the World Cup.

Infantino said on Thursday that 1,032,884 tickets had been sold, surpassing the previous tournament in France in 2019.

“The future is women, thanks to the fans for supporting what will be the greatest FIFA Women’s World Cup ever!” Infantino said in a statement.

“The momentum is building in the host countries and across the globe, and I look forward to seeing you there to witness the stars of women‘’ football shine on the world stage.”

FIFA moved Australia‘s opening match against Ireland to the 83,500-capacity Stadium Australia, the tournament’s largest stadium, due to high public demand for tickets.

This will allow up to 100,000 fans to attend the World Cup’s opening games, with the match between co-hosts New Zealand and Norway taking place hours before in Auckland.

Originally published as Players from winning team at Women’s World Cup will get $400k each