The Highest FIFA World Cup Compensation Payments in 2026

The ranking of the clubs receiving the highest FIFA compensation payments has changed once again during the World Cup. Manchester City continues to lead the top 10 with £2.62 million, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain (£2.12 million) and Arsenal (£2.05 million). They are followed by Bayern Munich (£1.96 million), FC Barcelona (£1.87 million), Chelsea (£1.80 million), Crystal Palace (£1.70 million), Atlético Madrid (£1.64 million), Manchester United (£1.58 million), and Real Madrid (£1.52 million).

In total, eight English clubs feature in the global top 20. Alongside ManCity, Arsenal, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and United, these are Aston Villa (£1.48 million, 11th place), Liverpool (£1.34 million, 13th place), and Tottenham Hotspur (£1.16 million, 18th place). No other league has more clubs in the global top 20 than the Premier League

Manchester City tops the rankings with over £2.62 million. PSG and Arsenal come in second and third.

In a comparison of leagues, clubs in the English Premier League receive the highest FIFA revenue-sharing payments, totalling £22.38 million. The Bundesliga follows in second place with around £11.29 million. Spain’s La Liga, with £10.36 million, has overtaken France’s Ligue 1 (£10.06 million) to move into third place; in the previous interim standings, the French league was still ahead of the Spanish one. Next comes Italy’s Serie A (£8.99 million).

Rounding out the top 10 are the Saudi Pro League (£5.27 million), the American MLS (£4.76 million), England’s Championship (£3.73 million), the Brazilian Série A (£3.71 million), and the Turkish Süper Lig (£3.66 million).

This makes England the only country to have two leagues among the top ten leagues worldwide in terms of compensation payments. The Championship ranking is led by Leicester City (£490,872), ahead of Norwich City (£450,667), Watford FC (£333,958), Hull City (£286,316) and Ipswich Town (£260,723).

The English Premier League receives £22.38 million – almost twice as much as the Bundesliga in second place. England is the only country to have two leagues among the top ten leagues worldwide.

Within the English Premier League, Manchester City tops the rankings with £2.62 million, ahead of Arsenal in second place with £2.05 million. Chelsea and Manchester United swap places in the final ranking: Chelsea climbs from fifth to third place among English top-flight clubs with £1.80 million, thereby overtaking Crystal Palace (£1.70 million) and Manchester United (£1.58 million). In total, eight Premier League clubs are set to receive more than one million pounds in compensation payments.

Premier League clubs will receive a total of £22.38 million in World Cup compensation payments. Manchester City will take the largest share, at £2.62 million.

Clubs from England receive £26,728,495.88 - more than twice as much as Germany, which is in second place. Portugal, Turkey and the Netherlands are closely grouped together.

Despite the revised calculation basis following FIFA's updated disclosures, the order at the top remains unchanged. Manchester City leads the global club ranking with expected compensation payments of around £1.8 million. Bayern Munich follows with approximately £1.6 million, and Paris Saint-Germain ranks third with around £1.4 million.

Arsenal (£1.4 million), Al-Hilal (£1.2 million), Manchester United (£1.1 million), Crystal Palace (£1.1 million) and Barcelona (£1.1 million) also receive comparatively high payments for releasing their players. Chelsea, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund all exceed £1.0 million. Aston Villa also features among the top 20, with a payout of £965,000.

Manchester City tops the ranking with over £1.8 million, ahead of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain. The top 20 also features surprise names such as Crystal Palace and Al-Ahly, highlighting how clubs beyond Europe's traditional elite benefit from supplying players to the world's biggest football tournament.

The impact of the new FIFA rules is particularly striking at the top of the ranking. Under the 2022 World Cup model, Manchester City would have received around £4.0 million, Bayern Munich approximately £3.5 million and Paris Saint-Germain around £3.1 million. Actual payouts are therefore more than half lower in each case.

Manchester City tops the ranking with over £4.0 million, ahead of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain. The top 20 also features surprise names such as Crystal Palace and Al-Ahly.

Note: The analysis is based on the officially reported World Cup rosters of all qualified nations. The calculation of compensation payments is based on the daily rates of the FIFA World Cup Benefits Program, which are $5,000 and $11,000 per day, respectively, starting June 1, 2026. Clubs that have had World Cup participants under contract since the start of the 2024–25 season will receive one-third of the daily allowance on a pro-rata basis, in accordance with FIFA regulations. The basis for the new calculation is new information regarding the distribution of the program, which totals 355 million US dollars. According to this, 250 million US dollars are allocated to the World Cup finals, while an additional 100 million US dollars are earmarked for qualifying matches for the first time. The amounts shown increase the further a team advances in the tournament. The figures shown here reflect the amounts as of elimination in the group stage. The conversion from U.S. dollars to euros was based on the exchange rates as of June 2 and June 11, 2026.

Within England, Manchester City leads the Premier League ranking with £1.8 million. Arsenal follows with approximately £1.4 million, and Manchester United ranks third with around £1.1 million. Crystal Palace (£1.1 million), Chelsea (£1.1 million) and Liverpool (£1.1 million) are close behind. Aston Villa (£965,000), Tottenham (£845,000) and Brighton (£783,000) also generate substantial payouts, as do Wolverhampton Wanderers (£745,000), Newcastle United (£678,000) and Sunderland (£656,000).

The new rules have a noticeable impact across the board: under the old calculation, Arsenal would have received £3.0 million, Manchester United £2.5 million and Crystal Palace £2.4 million.

Premier League clubs receive a combined £16.2 million in FIFA World Cup compensation payments. Manchester City tops the ranking with £1.8 million, ahead of Arsenal (£1.4 million) and Manchester United (£1.1 million).

Premier League clubs would have received a combined £35.7 million. Manchester City would have topped the ranking with £4.0 million, ahead of Arsenal (£3.0 million) and Manchester United (£2.5 million).

Looking at individual leagues, the Premier League receives by far the highest FIFA compensation payments, with a total of £16.2 million (previously: £35.7 million). The Bundesliga ranks second with £8.8 million (previously: £19.4 million), and France's Ligue 1 follows closely in third with £7.5 million (previously: £16.5 million). Spain's La Liga and Italy's Serie A come in at £7.0 million and £6.7 million respectively.

The Premier League receives nearly £16.2 million, almost double that of the Bundesliga in second place. Ligue 1, La Liga and Serie A are closely grouped behind.

Looking at total compensation by country across all leagues, England, Germany and France lead the rankings. Clubs based in England are set to receive £20.0 million, more than double the amount going to Germany in second place (£9.6 million). France ranks third with £8.7 million, followed by Spain (£7.6 million) and Italy (£7.2 million).

Clubs from England receive £20.0 million, more than double the amount going to Germany in second place. France, Spain and Italy follow closely behind.

Clubs from England would have received £44.1 million, more than double the amount going to Germany in second place. France, Spain and Italy follow closely behind.

Even though Italy failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, Serie A clubs can still look forward to substantial additional revenue.

In total, FIFA is distributing approximately £7.17 million to Italian clubs, of which £6.67 million goes to Serie A clubs, placing Serie A fifth in the international ranking. The highest compensation payments within the league go to AC Milan, with approximately £885,600, and AS Roma, with approximately £704,000. They are followed by Juventus Turin with about £665,000, FC Bologna with about £645,000, and Atalanta Bergamo with about £634,000.

Under FIFA regulations, the former clubs of World Cup players also benefit from the release fees. Clubs that had national team players under contract in recent years receive one-third of the respective daily allowance on a pro-rata basis. Olympique Marseille generates the highest revenue from this regulation, at around £235,000. Next are the Wolverhampton Wanderers with about £211,000 and Stade Rennes with £178,000.

Among the 10 Top English clubs, Nottingham Forest follows the ranking with £164,000 from former players, ahead of Chelsea (£151,000), Brighton (£140,000) and Liverpool (£139,000).

The FIFA Club Benefits Program was introduced for the 2010 World Cup to compensate clubs for releasing their national team players to the tournament. Since then, the amount of compensation per player per day has risen steadily across several tournaments. While the figure stood at around 1,600 U.S. dollars per player per day for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, it rose to around 2,900 U.S. dollars in 2014, to 8,530 U.S. dollars in 2018, and reached its highest level to date at 10,950 U.S. dollars in Qatar in 2022.

With the 2026 World Cup, this trend now appears to be reversing for the first time. Despite a larger total prize pool and a significantly bigger World Cup with more teams, more players, and more matches, the expected compensation per player per day is lower than at the past two World Cups, according to current FIFA figures.

For the analysis, DKB examined the officially declared World Cup squads of all qualified nations. The calculation of compensation payments is based on the FIFA Club Benefits Programme and takes into account all player release dates for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, starting on 1 June.

The analysis was initially carried out following the conclusion of the group stage and evaluated on the basis of the tournament standings at that time. Following the end of the World Cup, the analysis was updated on 16 July 2026 and adjusted to reflect the final outcome of the tournament (19 July 2026). The results presented here therefore show the final calculated compensation payments for the clubs based on the full course of the tournament. The original figures following the group stage remain available for comparison.

As FIFA will not announce the final basis for calculating the compensation payments until after the tournament has concluded, the calculations in this analysis are based on the minimum remuneration of US$5,000 per player per day as communicated by FIFA. The actual payments may therefore differ slightly from the figures shown here once the tournament is over.

Clubs that have had World Cup participants under contract since the start of the 2024/2025 season will receive one-third of the respective daily allowance on a pro rata basis, in accordance with FIFA regulations. The amounts shown will increase if teams progress beyond the group stage in the tournament. For the 2026 FIFA Club World Cup, FIFA is making a total of US$355 million available as part of the Club Benefits Programme. For the first time, clubs will be compensated not only for the release of their players during the final tournament, but also for appearances in the World Cup qualifiers. The US$355 million relates to the entire Club Benefits Programme for the 2023–2026 World Cup cycle.