Club World Cup: Teams with fewer matches and higher earnings than the Champions League

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will conclude with the final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain scheduled for tonight at 9:00 PM Italian time, but talk of the next edition is already underway. The new format, played in the United States, involved 32 teams and generated record prize money, confirming the tournament as the most lucrative event in football. FIFA announced that the total prize money amounted to approximately €930 million .

A prize pool never seen before

One of the aspects that has attracted the most attention from clubs is, obviously, the potential earnings of a successful run at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. In reality, even those eliminated after the first stage were able to count on a series of prizes that were significantly above average. The prize pool was divided into:

• 440 million euros for sports performances;
• 490 million euros as a shareholding

FIFA President Gianni Infantino explained: “The distribution model reflects the pinnacle of club football and represents the largest prize money ever awarded in a football tournament.”

All the awards for the 2025 Club World Cup

As for the prizes for participation , the division took place according to the federations of the clubs that qualified for this first historic edition:

• European clubs between 11.8 and 35.4 million euros depending on the ranking;
• South American clubs 14 million euros;
• clubs from North and Central America and the Caribbean 8.8 million euros;
• Asian clubs 8.8 million euros;
• African clubs 8.8 million euros;
• Oceania clubs 3.3 million euros.

As for athletic performances , a win in a group stage match earned €1.8 million, while a draw earned €900,000. Obviously, the prize money increased based on the round each team reached:

• access to the round of 16 6.9 million euros;
• access to the quarter-finals 12.2 million euros;
• access to the semi-final 19.5 million euros;
• finalist 27.8 million euros;
• winner 37 million euros.

A telling figure is that of Chelsea , who reached the final and earned €110 million from six matches, and could reach €147 million if they win. By comparison, Paris Saint-Germain, winners of the 2024-2025 Champions League , earned €148 million from 17 matches played. The financial return per match at the Club World Cup has therefore exceeded that of the Champions League: up to €16.6 million per game, compared to UEFA's €9.7 million.

2029 Club World Cup: Qualification Criteria

The next tournament is scheduled for 2029, with a new format still being finalized. FIFA has confirmed the participation of 32 teams , but there is talk of expanding it to 48 clubs, as reported by The Guardian. Pressure is coming from clubs excluded from the first edition, including Barcelona, Liverpool, Arsenal, Napoli , and AC Milan. Current qualifying rules stipulate that the winners of the European Champions League between 2025 and 2028 and the top eight teams in the UEFA rankings must participate, with a maximum of two teams per association, excluding those already qualified via the trophy.

The UEFA ranking is based on international results from 2021, with a score calculated on:

• 3 points for each win;
• 1 point for each draw;
• 3 points for each round

Based on these criteria, Inter would already mathematically qualify. AC Milan, however, would be excluded if they do not participate in the next edition of the Champions League, losing crucial points to maintain their position in the ranking. The teams already qualified for 2029 are Paris Saint-Germain, having won the 2024-2025 Champions League; Cruz Azul, having won the Central and North American Champions League; Al-Ahli, winners of the Asian Champions League; and Pyramids, winners of the African Champions League.