The United States Women’s National Team stands to earn more money from the men’s 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar than it did from having won its own tournaments in 2015 and 2019.
Following the terms of the equal pay agreement reached between the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), the United States Women’s National (Soccer) Team Players Association (USWNTPA), and the United States National Soccer Team (USNSTP) earlier this year, the men’s and women’s national teams now share equally in the earnings from the World Cup.
Having reached this historic agreement, US Soccer is now “the first Federation in the world to equalize FIFA World Cup prize money” for teams competing in World Cups.
US Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in a May statement, “This is a truly historic moment. These agreements have changed the game forever here in the United States and have the potential to change the game around the world.”
According to FIFA’s website, each club that qualifies for the knockout stages but is eliminated in the first round will receive $13 million regardless of their final placement in the tournament. This applies to teams that finish ninth through sixteenth.
So far, the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) has earned $6.5 million in Qatar, which will be split evenly with the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT). That number will rise even higher if the team beats the Netherlands in the round of 16 and advances to the quarterfinals.
In comparison, the US Women’s National Team won the World Cup in 2015 and 2019, earning $6 million ($2 million in 2015 and $4 million in 2019).
The total prize money for the 2019 Women’s World Cup was $30 million, up from $15 million in 2015.
Due to the US cover equal pay agreement, the USMNT will be responsible for funding 50% of USWNT award money in the future.
The overall prize pool for the men’s tournament this year is $440 million, with the winner receiving $42 million. This is more than 14 times as much as the prize pool for the women’s tournament.
As sports reporter Lindsay Gibbs pointed out in her newsletter “PowerPlays,” “FIFA has always treated the women’s World Cup as an afterthought,” which is why equal-pay deals like the one struck between the USMNT and USWNT are so important.
“They put more pressure on FIFA to invest in the women’s game, because now the lack of resources given to the women directly impact the men, too. Solidarity truly does matter.”
Qatar 2023; USA women’s team to make more money from men’s World Cup than 2019 win
“It’s beyond time for FIFA to step up and treat women’s soccer like the money-maker we know it can be. Until then, we’ll celebrate the wins along the way, like finally achieving true pay equality in U.S. Soccer,” she added.
Since they placed second in Group B, the United States National Team will play the Netherlands in a round of 16 encounter on Saturday.
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