From Zero to $110 Million: The Womens World Cup Prize Fund, 1991 to 2027

Four decades, three eras of prize money

The history of prize money at the FIFA Womens World Cup falls into three clear eras. From 1991 to 2003 the tournament paid nothing for results. From 2007 to 2015 FIFA paid modest, slowly rising sums, never more than 15 million dollars in total. Since 2019 the fund has grown much faster and has been joined by preparation money for every team and payments to the clubs that release players, the same structure the men have had for years.

This page is the long view. It covers every edition, the wider package around the prize pool, how much each team and each champion received, and how far the women have trailed the men in each four year cycle. It ends with the open question of Brazil 2027, where FIFA has promised to aim for equal payments but has not yet published a number. The exact 2023 payout for each finishing position and each nation is set out separately in our 2023 team by team prize money breakdown.

The unpaid era: four tournaments without prize money

The first FIFA Womens World Cup was played in China in 1991 with 12 teams. Sweden hosted the second edition in 1995, again with 12 teams, and the United States hosted 16 teams in 1999. The 2003 edition was moved from China to the United States because of the SARS outbreak. In none of these four tournaments did FIFA pay a performance pool linked to results, so the national teams that won them, the United States twice, Norway and Germany, earned nothing from FIFA for the title itself.

That changed with China 2007, which FIFA described in 2006 as the first edition with prize money. The amounts were small and the ladder was flat: champions received 1 million dollars, runners up 800,000 dollars, third place 650,000 dollars, fourth place 550,000 dollars, beaten quarter finalists 300,000 dollars each and the eight teams knocked out in the group stage 200,000 dollars each. Added up, that is the 5.8 million dollar pool usually quoted for 2007. The full roll of champions from 1991 onward is in our list of every Womens World Cup winner.

The prize pool edition by edition, 2007 to 2023

Once it existed, the pool grew at every tournament. FIFA put the Germany 2011 figure at 10 million dollars when it raised the Canada 2015 fund to 15 million dollars in December 2014. The France 2019 pool doubled to 30 million dollars by decision of the FIFA Council in October 2018, and the 2023 pool, confirmed by FIFA at its Kigali Congress in March 2023, rose to 110 million dollars for the first 32 team tournament.

A curve that bends in 2019: the pool added 9 million dollars in eight years to 2015, then 95 million dollars in the following eight.

Seen in percentages, the acceleration is plain. The pool rose 72 percent from 2007 to 2011, 50 percent to 2015, 100 percent to 2019 and 267 percent to 2023. The last step was large even after allowing for the bigger field, because the number of teams went up by a third while the money went up almost fourfold.

For most of this period the women tournament was sold to broadcasters together with the men World Cup, so it had no separate price tag that could justify higher payments. FIFA only began selling the media rights for the Womens World Cup on their own for the 2023 edition, a change covered in more detail in the section on revenue below. The wider picture of FIFA income from television is in our report on FIFA broadcasting rights revenue.

Beyond the prize pool: preparation money and club benefits

Prize money is only part of what FIFA pays around a World Cup. Since 2019 the women tournament has also had two other strands. Preparation money is paid to every qualified association before the tournament to cover training camps and friendlies. Club benefits compensate the clubs that release players, in proportion to the days each player spends with her national team.

In 2015 there was neither. For France 2019 the FIFA Council approved 50 million dollars in total: 30 million dollars of prize money, 11.52 million dollars of preparation money and 8.48 million dollars for clubs. For 2023 the total rose to 152 million dollars, made up of 110 million dollars of prize money, 30.7 million dollars of preparation money and 11.3 million dollars of club benefits, figures FIFA rounded to 31 million and 11 million dollars in its own release.

Ten times in two editions: total spending on participants went from 15 million dollars in 2015 to 152 million dollars in 2023.

This explains why two growth figures circulate for 2023. FIFA described its 2023 offer as more than ten times the 2015 level, which is true of the full package (152 against 15 million dollars). The prize pool alone grew a little over seven times over the same period. Both are accurate; they measure different things. In this report the prize pool is the core series because it is the only strand that exists for every paid edition.

FIFA also paid for things that do not appear in these totals. For 2023 it said that delegation sizes, travel, hotels, team base camps and other services would match what the men had at Qatar 2022, and it put its overall budget for the tournament at more than 500 million dollars.

Money per team as the field grew from 16 to 32

Because the field doubled from 16 teams in 2007 to 32 in 2023, the pool per team is a fairer measure of what qualifying was worth. The average was about 0.36 million dollars in 2007. It rose to about 0.63 million dollars in 2011 and stayed at that level in 2015, when the extra 5 million dollars was spread across eight more teams. It doubled to 1.25 million dollars in 2019 and reached about 3.44 million dollars in 2023.

Flat, then steep: the average per team did not move between 2011 and 2015, then rose more than fivefold by 2023.

The minimum a team could earn moved in a similar way. A group stage exit was worth 200,000 dollars in 2007. In 2023 the same result brought 1.56 million dollars for the association plus 30,000 dollars for each player in the squad, a total of 2.25 million dollars, and every team also received preparation money on top. For a smaller association that may be the largest single payment it receives from FIFA in a four year cycle, which is why expansion to 32 teams mattered as much as the size of the pool. How the teams compare on the pitch is tracked in the FIFA womens world ranking.

What the champions received at each edition

The payment for winning the title has grown more slowly than the pool as a whole. Germany received 1 million dollars in 2007, and the figure was unchanged at about 1 million dollars when Japan won in 2011, according to reports at the time. The United States received 2 million dollars in 2015 and 4 million dollars in 2019. In 2023 FIFA split the champion money in two for the first time: 4.29 million dollars to the Spanish federation and 270,000 dollars for each of the 23 players, a combined 10.5 million dollars.

Ten times in 16 years: the title was worth 1 million dollars in 2007 and 10.5 million dollars in 2023.

An interesting detail is that the champion share of the pool has fallen. The 2007 winners took 17 percent of all prize money. In 2015 and 2019 the share was about 13 percent, and in 2023 about 9.5 percent. FIFA has chosen to spread the bigger pools more widely, raising the floor for every qualified team faster than the reward at the top.

The headline 2023 numbers are worth recalling in one line: a 110 million dollar pool inside a 152 million dollar package, about 10.5 million dollars for the champions, and a minimum of 30,000 dollars for every player. The full ladder by stage and the amounts for all 32 nations are in our 2023 payout table by finish, and the players who made those runs possible are in our list of all time Womens World Cup top scorers.

The gap to the men, cycle by cycle

Comparing each Womens World Cup with the men tournament of the year before shows a ratio that has narrowed sharply. In 2014 the men shared 358 million dollars in prize money, against 15 million dollars for the women in 2015, a ratio of about 24 to 1. In 2018 the men pool was 400 million dollars against 30 million for the women in 2019, about 13 to 1. In 2022 it was 440 million against 110 million, exactly 4 to 1.

The ratio fell from 24 to 1 to 4 to 1, but the gap in dollars barely moved: 343, 370 and 330 million dollars.

The share tells one story and the dollar gap tells another. As a share of the men pool, women went from 4.2 percent to 7.5 percent and then 25 percent. In absolute terms the difference was 343 million dollars in the first cycle, 370 million in the second and 330 million in the third. The women gained ground only because their pool grew much faster in percentage terms; the men kept growing too.

The other strands are further apart. In 2022 the men club benefit programme was worth 209 million dollars against 11.3 million dollars for the women clubs in 2023, because club payments follow the salaries and the number of professional clubs involved. Preparation money was closer, at 1.5 million dollars per team for the men in 2018 and 2022. How the men fund itself has grown is covered in our report on FIFA World Cup prize money, and the payments to each men champion in our record of World Cup winners prize money.

The parity pledge: what FIFA promised and what has happened since

The promise that shapes the Brazil 2027 debate was made at the FIFA Congress in Kigali on 16 March 2023. Announcing the 152 million dollar package, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the goal was equality in payments for the men and women World Cups in 2026 and 2027 respectively, and he called it the most difficult step. FIFA presented it as an ambition, not a binding rule, and tied it to broadcasters and sponsors paying more for the womens game.

The pledge followed pressure from players. In October 2022 FIFPRO, its member unions and more than 150 players from 25 national teams wrote to FIFA asking for equal prize money at senior World Cups, a global guarantee that at least 30 percent of prize money would go to players, and a binding collective agreement. The 2023 payment model, which FIFPRO endorsed, met part of that: FIFA set fixed amounts for every player for the first time.

Infantino has also argued that equal prize money on its own is not the answer. Speaking in Sydney before the 2023 final, he called the demand a slogan that would not solve anything and asked broadcasters and sponsors to pay a fair price for womens football. That is the tension behind the pledge: FIFA links parity to revenue, while players and FIFPRO treat it as a commitment.

Brazil 2027: where the prize fund stands in October 2026

As of mid October 2026 FIFA has not announced the prize fund for the Womens World Cup in Brazil. The tournament runs from 24 June to 25 July 2027, and the final draw will take place on 11 December 2026 at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro. The FIFA release announcing the draw, published on 25 August 2026, did not mention prize money, and no FIFA Council decision on the 2027 financial contribution had been published by the time of writing.

That leaves the parity pledge unresolved less than nine months before kick off. For comparison, FIFA approved the men 2026 contribution of 727 million dollars, including the 655 million dollar pool, on 17 December 2025, almost six months before that tournament began. The 2023 package was confirmed in March 2023, four months before kick off, and the payment model in June 2023.

Without an official number, the best way to frame 2027 is to measure what parity would require. The calculations below are not forecasts. They simply apply the men 2026 figures to a 32 team tournament, and compare them with the 2023 pool and with the revenue FIFA hopes to raise.

Parity means a pool five to six times larger than 2023: between 511 and 655 million dollars, depending on how equal is defined.

The two parity benchmarks differ because the men tournament now has 48 teams and the women tournament 32. Paying each finishing place what the men earned in 2026 (50 million dollars for the winner, 33 million for the runners up, 29 and 27 million for third and fourth, 19 million for the next four places, 15 million for places 9 to 16 and 11 million for places 17 to 32) adds up to 511 million dollars. Matching the men total of 655 million dollars with 32 teams would mean an average of about 20.5 million dollars per team, more than the men average of about 13.6 million.

Parity would also need to cover preparation money. The men received 1.5 million dollars per team in 2026; the same rate for 32 teams would be 48 million dollars, against 30.7 million dollars in 2023. On the position based definition, prize money plus preparation money would come to about 559 million dollars. Our wider guide to how FIFA builds a World Cup prize pot explains the men side of these numbers.

What changes in 2027, and what does not

Brazil 2027 keeps the format introduced in 2023, so the prize fund will again be shared by 32 teams. The bigger changes are commercial and geographic, and they all bear on how much FIFA can afford to pay.

One thing that will not change is the size of the field, which matters for any comparison with 2023. Because the number of teams is the same, any increase in the 2027 pool will translate directly into higher payments per team, unlike the move from 24 to 32 teams in 2023. The countries with the most experience at this level are listed in our ranking of most Womens World Cup appearances.

What pays for it: crowds, audiences and FIFA revenue

The case for larger prize funds rests on what the tournament earns. Attendance has risen strongly but not in a straight line. China 2007 drew about 1.19 million spectators, Germany 2011 about 0.85 million and Canada 2015 about 1.35 million, then a record for any FIFA event other than the men World Cup. France 2019 drew about 1.13 million, and the first 32 team edition in Australia and New Zealand almost 2 million.

Almost 2 million in 2023: the 32 team format lifted attendance about three quarters above France 2019.

Audiences tell a similar story. FIFA said 764 million people watched the 2015 tournament on television at home. The 2019 edition reached 1.12 billion viewers across all platforms, with an average live audience of 17.27 million per match and 82.18 million for the final. For 2023 FIFA reported that more than 2 billion people engaged with the tournament and an average of 14.12 million watched each of the 64 matches; FIFA measured these numbers in different ways at each edition, so they show scale rather than a precise trend.

Revenue is the hinge of the parity debate. Before 2023 the womens rights were bundled with the men tournament. In March 2023 Infantino said offers for the women tournament were 10 to 100 times lower than for the men, and FIFA threatened a broadcast blackout in the five largest European markets before reaching agreements shortly before the tournament. In August 2023 he said the edition had generated more than 570 million dollars and broken even, the first time FIFA had said so about a Womens World Cup.

About a quarter of revenue went to participants in 2023; a 655 million dollar pool would equal about two thirds of the 1 billion dollar target for 2027.

That ratio frames the challenge for 2027. If FIFA reaches its 1 billion dollar target and keeps the 2023 balance, the pool would be close to 200 million dollars. Full parity with the men would need a much larger share of the revenue, or support from the rest of the FIFA budget. FIFA expected revenue of about 13 billion dollars in the 2023 to 2026 cycle and budgets more than 14 billion dollars for 2027 to 2030, so the money exists at group level; the question is how FIFA chooses to allocate it. The organisation finances are covered in our reports on FIFA revenue and FIFA net income.

What to watch before the first match in Brazil

The first signal will be a FIFA Council decision on the 2027 financial contribution. For both the 2019 and 2026 tournaments, the prize money was set by the Council and announced in a media release, and the 2023 package was presented at the FIFA Congress. Any of the remaining Council meetings before June 2027 could carry it. The draw in Rio on 11 December 2026 is an obvious moment, although the August release about the draw said nothing on money.

The second signal is whether FIFA keeps the 2023 player model, with fixed amounts for every player, and whether it raises the minimum of 30,000 dollars. FIFPRO asked in 2022 for at least 30 percent of prize money to go to players; under the 2023 model players were allocated a larger share than that across the tournament as a whole. The third is how FIFA defines equal: the same total pool, the same pay per finishing place, or equal treatment in conditions only. Each would produce a very different number, as the scenarios above show.

Finally, the commercial results will matter. The Netflix deal in the United States, sponsorship sales and ticketing in Brazil will show whether the 1 billion dollar target is realistic. Individual stars of the women game, whose profile helps sell the tournament, are recognised in the FIFA Best Womens Player award, and our FIFA statistics hub collects the governing body data in one place.

The Womens World Cup prize fund in eight numbers

Questions about the history of Womens World Cup prize money