U.S. Men's Team to Share $16 Million World Cup Prize Money Equally with Women's Team

The U.S. men's national soccer team, which was eliminated in the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, will share its $16 million prize money—approximately 24 billion KRW—equally with the women's national team.

According to reports from ESPN and other foreign media, the U.S. men's team will split the prize money with the women's team in accordance with an equal pay agreement.

The U.S. team suffered a 1-4 defeat against Belgium in the Round of 16 match held on July 7, failing to advance to the quarterfinals, but secured $16 million in prize money from FIFA for reaching the Round of 16.

The U.S. Soccer Federation signed a collective bargaining agreement in 2022 to ensure equal pay for both men's and women's national teams. This agreement was reached after the women's team publicly demanded equal pay and engaged in a legal battle with the federation.

Under this collective bargaining agreement, the U.S. Soccer Federation retains 20% of the prize money from each World Cup, while the remaining 80% is distributed equally among the players on the respective World Cup rosters.

Therefore, the prize money from the 2026 North and Central America World Cup will be shared equally between the 26 players on the men's national team and the 26 players who will represent the women's national team in the 2027 Women's World Cup.

Based on the prize money received, each team will receive $6.4 million, or approximately 9.7 billion KRW, meaning each player will receive about $246,000, or 372 million KRW.

However, as the women's national team has not yet confirmed its qualification for the 2027 Women's World Cup and the final 26-player roster has not been determined, the $6.4 million allocated to the women's team will be deposited into a separate interest-bearing account.

Any interest accrued in the future will also be distributed equally among the players of both the men's and women's teams.

Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Kim Na-on | Graphics by Lee Jung-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.