​On July 8, a UPI report detailed how U.S. women players are poised to receive approximately $246,000 each from the men’s World Cup earnings should they qualify for the 2027 tournament. This payout structure stems from the 2022 collective bargaining agreement between the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and the United States Women’s National Team Players Association (USWNTPA). Under that agreement, prize money from World Cup prize pools is pooled and then split evenly among the 26 players on the men’s and women’s teams.
In the latest round of competition, the American men advanced to the Round of 16 but were eliminated by Belgium on Monday, a result that still triggers a distribution framework for the national teams. The federation retains 20 percent of the World Cup prize money, while the remaining 80 percent—amounting to about $12.8 million—is divided evenly between the men’s and women’s players, but only if the women qualify for the 2027 World Cup. If the women secure qualification, each player would receive roughly $246,153 after the 2027 cycle concludes, contingent on the World Cup outcomes and the agreement’s terms being fulfilled. By contrast, if the men had advanced to the quarterfinals, the per-player distribution would have risen to approximately $307,692 for both squads.
The prize schedule includes stepped rewards for various levels of success: a third- or fourth-place finish would have triggered per-player payouts of about $430,769 or $461,538, respectively. A runner-up finish would have yielded around $523,076 per player, while winning the tournament would have produced about $784,615 per player. It’s important to note that the U.S. women’s World Cup roster for 2027 has not yet been announced; the 26 players are expected to be named in the spring. Any money allocated for the women would be placed in an interest-bearing account until the team qualifies and the roster is confirmed for the 2027 World Cup, with the earned interest and any proceeds from the women’s World Cup being distributed evenly among the 52 players across both teams.
In addition to World Cup prize distributions, U.S. Soccer pays both the men’s and women’s squads $10,000 for each World Cup match played. The next edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup is scheduled to begin on June 24, 2027, in Brazil. The United States currently sits second in the FIFA women’s rankings, trailing only defending champions Spain. There has been ongoing talk from FIFA president Gianni Infantino about establishing an equal prize money pool for the 2027 World Cup, a move that, if realized, could further enhance potential earnings for the U.S. teams as they aim to progress deeper into the knockout rounds and maximize their prize money.