FIFA World Cup Prize Money Comparison: Men v Women

Gender equality in Sports around the world, not just football has been an ongoing topic for years. Female athletes getting paid way lesser than their male counterparts. In 2019 Senator Maria Cantwell and Senator Shelley Moore introduced the Equal Pay for Team USA, which later came into motion in 2022. Banyana Banyana just recently were in dispute with SAFA (South Africa Football Association) about the monetary compensation and benefits ahead of their departure to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.

FIFA World Cup is the biggest stage in the football calendar of events. All football fans around the world rally behind their teams, some supporting other teams based on their favourite players. Over the years Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been a point of reference for mega events such as the FIFA World Cup, diving the footballing world into half.

The $110 million in overall prize money for the 2023 Women’s World Cup is three times the prize pool from the 2019 tournament, but still a far cry from the $444 million (R8.5 billion) in prize money for the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar.

Here is the coverage of the FIFA World Cup prize money comparison between men and women athletes.

Men FIFA World Cup Prize Money

• Group stage: $9 million
• Round of 16: $13 million
• Quarter Final: $17 million
• 4th place: $25 million
• 3rd place: $27 million
• 2nd place: $30 million
• Winners: $42 million

Women FIFA World Cup Prize Money

• Group stage: $30k (R572,000)
• Round of 16: $60k (R1.14 million)
• Quarter Final: $90k (R1.71 million)
• 4th place: $165k (R3.14 million)
• 3rd place: $180k (R3.43 million)
• 2nd place: $195k (R3.71 million) 
• Winners: $270k (R5.14 million)