The U.S. women’s national team won’t play a World Cup match until 2027, but it is still set to receive a major payday from this year’s big tournament.
The U.S. men’s national team earned $16 million from FIFA for reaching the round of 16 before being eliminated by Belgium in a 4-1 loss in Seattle. Under U.S. Soccer’s landmark equal pay collective bargaining agreements, that money will be shared with the women’s national team.
U.S. Soccer keeps 20 percent of the prize money. The remaining 80 percent is split evenly between the men’s and women’s player pools, meaning each team is set to receive $6.4 million from the USMNT’s run. Based on 26-player rosters, that comes out to roughly $246,153 per player.
The women’s share will not be paid immediately.
The USWNT has not yet qualified for the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil, and the final roster will not be selected until closer to the tournament. Until then, the money owed to the women will sit in an interest-bearing account, with that interest also split between both player pools.
The arrangement exists because of the equal pay fight led by the U.S. women. The USWNT has won four World Cups, while the men have not advanced past the round of 16 since 2002. In 2019, members of the women’s team sued U.S. Soccer, accusing the federation of gender discrimination. A settlement followed in 2022, along with new CBAs for both teams.
The key piece was the decision to pool and split World Cup prize money, a structure designed to address the gap between FIFA’s payouts for the men’s and women’s tournaments.
That gap was clear in the previous cycle. The USMNT earned $13 million for reaching the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup. The USWNT earned just $1.87 million for reaching the same stage at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
Now, the same system is paying out again.
Round-of-16 teams at the expanded 48-team men’s World Cup earned $16 million, while the champion will receive $51 million. Had the U.S. beaten Belgium, a quarterfinal appearance would have earned $20 million, leaving $8 million each after U.S. Soccer’s cut.
Instead, the USMNT’s tournament ended with another round-of-16 exit.
The result stung, but the payout will still ripple across both national teams. The USWNT can return the favor in 2027, with any prize money the women earn in Brazil split with the men under the same agreement.
