Argentina outlasted France in one of the best FIFA World Cup Finals of all time on Sunday.
Lionel Messi and Co.'s reward for the thrilling triumph in Qatar was the most prestigious trophy in all of soccer...as well as a massive payday.
With the penalty shootout victory, La Albiceleste banked a staggering $42 million in prize money. That's $4 million more than the $38 million France claimed when it won the tournament in 2018.
Speaking of Les Bleus, they lost out on an extra $12 million by failing to successfully defend their title, taking home $30 million instead.
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The other 30 teams in the World Cup field also earned a share of a $440 million purse. Croatia captured $27 million for winning the third-place game and Morocco received $25 million for its surprising fourth-place finish.
The U.S. men's national team, meanwhile, was awarded $13 million for reaching the round of 16, where the Americans lost to the Netherlands.
Here's a full breakdown of the payouts for the 2022 World Cup:
Teams eliminated in group stage, $9 million: Ecuador, Qatar, Iran, Wales, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Denmark, Germany, Costa Rica, Belgium, Canada, Cameroon, Serbia, Uruguay, Ghana
Teams eliminated in round of 16, $13 million: USA, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Poland, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland
Teams eliminated in quarterfinals, $17 million: Netherlands, Brazil, England, Portugal
Fourth place, $25 million: Morocco
Third place, $27 million: Croatia
Second place, $30 million: France
Champion, $42 million: Argentina
How much money will players make in the 2022 FIFA World Cup?
So how much of that $440 million will end up in the players’ pockets? Well, it’s hard to say exactly.
That’s because each respective team decides what percentage of the winnings goes to the players. For example, Germany said it would award around $400,000 to each player if the nation won the 2018 World Cup, with smaller bonuses for just making the semifinals or quarterfinals. Spain, meanwhile, promised a payday of around $930,000 to its players if it won the 2018 tournament.
The prize money is on top of the salaries players receive from their national team. France star Kylian Mbappé reportedly earned around $22,300 per match in the 2018 World Cup. That was in addition to the roughly $350,000 bonus he got for winning the tournament. Mbappé then donated all of his World Cup winnings to the charity Premiers de Cordée, which offers free sports activities to disabled and hospitalized children in France.
