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Billions in revenue proves Fifa right on the World Cup – but only on things it cares about

The Guardian Sport Wednesday 04 November 2026, 19:02 UTC By Leander Schaerlaeckens 1 min read
Key Points

The 2026 edition of the tournament brought in untold amounts of money to Gianni Infantino’s governing bodyThe total hasn’t entirely stopped rising yet, still clicking away towards a final tally. Still, Fifa has already announced that it surpassed its own lofty revenue projections for the 2026 World Cup, bringing in $15bn, significantly more than anticipated. It appears that a third of that total – $5bn – came from ticket sales and hospitality alone, per reporting from the Times.

The 2026 edition of the tournament brought in untold amounts of money to Gianni Infantino’s governing body

The total hasn’t entirely stopped rising yet, still clicking away towards a final tally. Still, Fifa has already announced that it surpassed its own lofty revenue projections for the 2026 World Cup, bringing in $15bn, significantly more than anticipated. It appears that a third of that total – $5bn – came from ticket sales and hospitality alone, per reporting from the Times.

That would mean direct income from the matchgoing fans came in five times as high in the United States, Canada and Mexico as it did at the last World Cup, in Qatar in 2022, when the total stood at $929m. While 2026’s expanded World Cup added 40 games to the schedule, the takings nevertheless went from an average of about $14.5m per match to about $48m.

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Fifa (ORG) the World Cup (EVENT) Gianni Infantino’s (ORG) the 2026 World Cup (EVENT) Times (ORG) the United States (LOCATION) Canada (LOCATION) Mexico (LOCATION) Qatar (LOCATION) World Cup (EVENT)
Originally published by The Guardian Sport Read original →

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