FIFA has confirmed that clubs worldwide will share a minimum fund of $355 million in compensation for releasing players to compete at the 2026 World Cup — a 70 percent increase on the equivalent programme for the 2022 edition.

According to details published on FIFA's official website, each club will receive a minimum of $5,000 per day for every player participating in the tournament, calculated from the official release date for the duration of the player's involvement.

A more inclusive model

The compensation framework is designed to benefit clubs across all levels of the global game. Lower-tier clubs that develop international talent will, for the first time, also receive a direct financial return when their players are called up for World Cup qualifying matches — not just the finals.

FIFA calculates a payment of $2,362 for each player in a match-day squad across the 905 qualifying games, as well as for 10 friendly matches allocated to each of the three host nations, which did not need to go through the qualifying process.