20 Football Clubs That Made Most Money From the 2026 World Cup

The 2026 World Cup is over, meaning top clubs across the planet are set to earn significant sums of money for their players’ inclusion in football’s showpiece event.

Spain were crowned world champions for the second time in New Jersey, overcoming Argentina in extra time at MetLife Stadium, thanks to an emphatic finish from Ferran Torres. This dramatic final capped off what was an excellent tournament, despite the political controversy that surrounded it.

Now, the focus for fans shifts back towards club football, and supporters of major sides in Europe and other parts of the world will be delighted to discover that their teams are set for an injection of cash. FIFA pays clubs on the basis of how many days participants are at the competition.

Clubs are entitled to roughly $5,000 per day, per player, between the release date of May 25th and the day after their national team’s final match in the competition. This is essentially to compensate clubs for another institution using the players they pay huge salaries to, and thus, the tournament can be somewhat lucrative for top sides with plenty of established stars playing for their countries.

The Athletic have revealed the 20 clubs that have earned the most throughout the duration of the World Cup, and the rankings look good for several Premier League outfits.

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PSV Eindhoven enter the rankings at number 20, perhaps to the surprise of some. The Dutch giants were in double figures for players at the tournament, with some of their key stars representing the likes of the Netherlands, Morocco, the United States, Austria and even Curacao. While few of their players reached the latter stages, the sheer volume of international quality in Eindhoven means the Eredivisie side have generated $2 million from the tournament.

Galatasaray have also made $2 million from the World Cup. Their squad dominates Turkey’s roster, and while the Turks crashed out in the group stage, prohibiting their earning potential, it was still sufficient for them to qualify for this list. Egyptian giants Al Ahly are also in the $2 million club, with seven of their nine players at the tournament representing the North African country, who reached the last 16.

Rounding off this section are two Premier League clubs emanating from London. Both Tottenham Hotspur ($2.1 million) and Chelsea ($2 million) had an unusually small number of players competing for their nations, but those who did make the cut performed well. The likes of Djed Spence, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Enzo Fernandez, Trevoh Chalobah, Reece James and Malo Gusto all reached the last four.

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The club that generated the 15th highest revenue from the competition are Liverpool. The Reds actually made approximately the same amount as Chelsea, $2.2 million, with their eight players in North America performing relatively well across the board. Alexis Mac Allister was the standout, reaching the final with Argentina.

Borussia Dortmund also made $2.2 million, with the bulk of their star men representing Germany. That said, the most successful player in the Bundesliga side’s squad at the World Cup was Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who made history with the Rossocrociati by making the quarter-finals.

Sunderland join the $2.2 million club, to the surprise of many. However, close observers of the Black Cats will be well aware of how many of their players were competing at the tournament. 11 Sunderland squad members were in North America, with Granit Xhaka and Chemsdine Talbi the standouts, both reaching the last eight.

Yet another Premier League club ranks on $2.2 million, with Aston Villa also generating this figure. Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa, Ollie Watkins and Lucas Digne all made the semi-finals, while Morgan Rogers also qualifies as his £117m move to Chelsea only materialised after the tournament was over.

Al-Hilal had 12 players at the World Cup, and this alone was enough for the Saudi outfit to have usurped every aforementioned club, generating $2.3 million. While several of these stars represented the Middle Eastern nation, Theo Hernandez’s exploits with France did a lot of heavy lifting.

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AC Milan enter the top ten, despite Italy failing to qualify for the World Cup. The Serie A giants had ten players at the tournament, including semi-finalists Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot, and quarter-finalists Koni De Winter, Alexis Saelemaekers and Ardon Jashari.

Given the stature of the club, Real Madrid will be disappointed to have only ranked ninth in the payout rankings. Jude Bellingham, Aurelien Tchouameni and Kylian Mbappe were all semi-finalists, while new signing Marc Cucurella was the only Los Blancos representative in the winning Spain squad.

Next, two more Premier League clubs enter the fold. Manchester United ($2.6 million) and Crystal Palace ($2.7 million) both enjoyed a lucrative summer off. The likes of Lisandro Martinez, Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo, Dean Henderson, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Maxence Lacroix and Yeremy Pino were all in North America until the very end.

Finally, Atletico Madrid made a fortune at the World Cup — the Spanish giants are the first side on this list to surpass the $3 million mark. Atleti had more players involved in the World Cup final than anyone else, including Juan Musso, Julian Alvarez, Nicolas Gonzalez, Thiago Almada, Giuliano Simeone, Nahuel Molina, Marc Pubill, Marcos Llorente and Alex Baena. It paid to be based in the country of the winner and managed by a man from the country of the runners-up.

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The top five is dominated by European heavyweights. Paris Saint-Germain equalled Atletico’s $3.2 million and were largely carried by the volume of their players at the tournament — 16 reigning European champions were present in total. The strong French contingent served Luis Enrique’s team well, with Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaire-Emery, Desire Doue and Lucas Hernandez all reaching the semi-finals.

Mikel Arteta will have another $3.3 million to add to the transfer coffers this summer, as Arsenal were rewarded for years of consistency at the top with several of their players thriving on the international stage. All 15 of their stars at the tournament progressed beyond the group stage, while Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Mikel Merino, David Raya, Martin Zubimendi and William Saliba all reached the latter stages.

Only one team had more players at the tournament than Bayern Munich, who had 17 stars away with their national teams over the summer. This was rewarded with $3.4 million in compensation, as Harry Kane, Dayot Upamecano and Michael Olise all got to the semi-finals.

Barcelona have more World Cup winners returning for pre-season training than anyone else. Eight Spanish players represent la Blaugrana – Torres, Eric Garcia, Gavi, Dani Olmo, Joan Garcia, Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Pau Cubarsi. Jules Kounde also reached the semi-finals.

Finally, Manchester City have generated an enormous $4.4 million from the World Cup. The Citizens had almost the entirety of their squad away on international duty, with 19 out in North America. This includes Rayan Cherki, Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly, John Stones and James Trafford, all of whom were involved in Saturday’s chaotic third-place play-off in Miami, while Rodri returns to Manchester a World Cup winner.