South Korea secures '18.5 billion won' just by qualifying for the World Cup... FIFA support funds increase further

*This content was translated by AI.

The Korea Football Association has increased the prize money secured through the national team's qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North, Central America, and the Caribbean to 12.5 million dollars (approximately 18.5 billion won).

FIFA announced at its Council meeting ahead of the 76th FIFA Congress, to be held in Vancouver, Canada on the 29th (Korean time), that it will increase support funds for teams qualifying for the World Cup finals by 15 percent.

Accordingly, the 48th teams that qualified for the finals, including South Korea, will receive a total of 12.5 million dollars, comprising 2.5 million dollars (approximately 3.7 billion won) for tournament preparation costs and 0.1 billion dollars (approximately 14.8 billion won) for participation in the World Cup finals.

At the FIFA Council meeting last December, the announced support fund for participating teams, including preparation and participation fees, was 10.5 million dollars (approximately 15.5 billion won), but it has increased further following this meeting.

In addition, FIFA plans to redistribute other revenue, such as ticket sales, to each football association, meaning the prize money the Korea Football Association receives for this World Cup will increase further. Additional prize money will be added based on the final World Cup standings.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated, "I am proud that FIFA is maintaining the most stable finances in history, enabling us to support all football associations in an unprecedented manner," and emphasized that this is "one example of how FIFA resources are reinvested into football."

World Cup prize money, including support funds, is first paid to the football association operating the national team, and the criteria for distributing bonus payments to players are executed at the discretion of each football association.

During the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Korea Football Association received 17.2 billion won from Hanwha, and the national team was paid according to standards set before the tournament: a base bonus of 20 million won per player, 30 million won for a win, 0.1 billion won for a draw, and 100 million won for advancing to the round of 16. At that time, it was reported that 56 percent of the total tournament prize money, including the bonus for qualifying for the World Cup finals, was paid to the national team.

Meanwhile, South Korea, led by coach Hong Myung-bo, was placed in Group A of the World Cup finals alongside host nation Mexico, South Africa, and the Czech Republic. This tournament, with the number of participating teams increasing from 32 to 48, will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each for the group stage. The top two teams from each group, along with the top eight third-placed teams among the 12th groups based on performance, will advance to the round of 32.

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.