“The FIFA World Cup is the pinnacle of football, generating passion and emotion from every player and every fan in every corner of the world. It is FIFA’s responsibility to redistribute the revenues of this unique competition among the entire football community, and clubs, obviously, deserve to share in this success as they were key contributors. I’m very pleased to see that teams from so many different regions will benefit from this programme, which will help to develop football even further around the globe,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Unsurprisingly, the ten clubs who had the most players in the squads at the FIFA World Cup and who will in turn receive the biggest share of the benefits are all European powerhouses: Manchester City FC, Real Madrid CF, Tottenham Hotspur FC, FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain FC, Chelsea FC, Manchester United FC, Club Atlético de Madrid, Juventus FC, and AS Monaco.
However, substantial amounts will also go to clubs from Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as to other leagues in Europe. For instance, the following clubs will each receive more than USD 1 million: Al Ahly (Egypt), Al-Hilal FC and Al-Ahli FC (Saudi Arabia), CF Pachuca (Mexico), CA Boca Juniors (Argentina), FC Copenhagen (Denmark), Celtic FC (Scotland), RSC Anderlecht (Belgium), AFC Ajax and Feyenoord Rotterdam (Netherlands).
The Club Benefits Programme is part of a broader collaboration agreement between FIFA and the European Club Association, which was first launched ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and further extended in 2015 to cover both the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups.