The 2026 World Cup, staged across North America next summer, is shaping up to be the largest edition in the tournament's history and one of the most lucrative. With an expanded field of 48 teams, including a number of debutant nations, FIFA expects the event to generate billions of dollars in revenue. Much of that money, officials say, is intended to flow back into the sport rather than stay at the top, a point organisers have stressed as the tournament approaches.
In the tense lead-up to the first whistle, organisers describe their main worries as practical ones. They want to see full stadiums, and safety is always a central concern when planning a global event on this scale. The other priority is logistical, getting the teams and the star players to the host cities. Officials point to last year's Club World Cup, which drew debate over whether it was the right event, only for the controversy to fade once the matches kicked off and fans filled the stands.
The projected television reach is enormous. By FIFA's accounting, the most recent men's World Cup in Qatar drew around five billion viewers worldwide, while the 2023 Women's World Cup reached roughly two billion. For the upcoming tournament, organisers are projecting an audience of between 2.5 and three billion. To capture that reach, FIFA says it is currently negotiating broadcast deals in China, one of the largest single markets for the rights.
On the financial side, the figures climb steeply. FIFA projects that the next Women's World Cup, set for 2027, will bring in about one billion dollars in revenue, an increase of roughly 500 million dollars on the previous edition. The men's tournament is expected to generate considerably more, with officials placing the likely range somewhere between four and six billion dollars. Those numbers, organisers note, are the totals that then feed the wider football system.
Central to FIFA's pitch is the idea of redistribution. The governing body says the revenue is channelled back into the development of the game, with every participating member association receiving so-called FIFA Forward funding. That programme reaches all 211 member nations, meaning the money raised by the showpiece tournaments is meant to support football infrastructure and investment well beyond the host countries and the largest federations.
Organisers also frame the expanded format as part of the sport's global appeal. With 48 teams and several countries appearing for the first time, there is uncertainty over how competitive the matches will be, but officials argue that is precisely the draw. On any given day, they say, one of the so-called minnows can beat one of the giants, with much of the world taking part. It is that breadth, they contend, that underpins both the audience and the economics of the modern World Cup.