The FIFA Council has agreed to increase by 15 percent the resources to be distributed to the 48 teams participating in the 2026 World Cup, for a total of 871 million US dollars, FIFA announced on Wednesday. The preparation fund was increased from 1.5 million US dollars to 2.5 million, while the qualification fund rose from 9 million to 10 million.
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Additional contributions to teams, including grants for delegation expenses and team ticket allocations, have been increased to over 16 million. FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “FIFA is proud to be in the strongest financial position ever seen, which allows us to help all our member associations in an unprecedented way.
This is a further example of how FIFA’s resources are reinvested in the game.” The Council agreed to amend the FIFA Governance Regulations to allow the refugee Afghan women’s team to participate in official FIFA competitions. “We are proud of the beautiful journey initiated by Afghan Women United, and with this initiative, we want to enable them, as well as other FIFA member associations that may not be able to register a national or representative team for a FIFA competition, to take the next step, in coordination with the relevant confederation,” Infantino said.
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The meeting also confirmed an amendment to the 2026 World Cup regulations in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, under which single yellow cards in the final competition will be canceled after the group stage and again after the quarter-finals.
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