South Korea's national football team, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, will receive at least $12.5 million (about 18.5 billion won) in prize money simply for participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.
FIFA held a council meeting in Vancouver, Canada, on Thursday (local time) and announced that the total distribution (prize money and preparation costs) to be shared among the 48 participating nations will be raised from $727 million (about 1.07 trillion won) to $871 million (about 1.29 trillion won).
The decision came swiftly in response to complaints from participating nations. Teams heading to the 2026 World Cup had demanded that FIFA increase the distribution, citing rising travel costs, taxes and overall operating expenses.
FIFA raised the preparation funds needed for the 48 finalists to run pre-tournament training camps and cover squad travel from $1.5 million (about 2.22 billion won) to $2.5 million (about 3.69 billion won).
The prize money for group stage participation (ranked 33rd to 48th) was also increased from $9 million (about 13.29 billion won) to $10 million (about 14.77 billion won).
As a result, Hong's squad, which will compete in Group A against Mexico, South Africa and the Czech Republic, is guaranteed $12.5 million just by appearing in the tournament.
The winner of the tournament will take home $50 million, with $33 million for the runner-up, $29 million for third place and $27 million for fourth place. Quarterfinalists (ranked fifth to eighth) will receive $19 million, round-of-16 teams (ninth to 16th) $15 million, and teams eliminated in the group stage (17th to 32nd) $11 million.
