Record-Breaking Success for North and Central America World Cup: FIFA Revenue Expected to Reach $15 Billion
Far Surpassing the Pre-World Cup Estimate of $11 Billion
Increased Number of Matches and Hydration Breaks Drive Revenue
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) is projected to double its revenue from the 2026 North and Central America World Cup compared to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
The British daily The Guardian recently reported that FIFA is expected to generate record-breaking revenue of over $15 billion (approximately 22.065 trillion won) from the 2026 North and Central America World Cup. The Guardian noted that FIFA President Gianni Infantino informed national football associations of this profit projection on July 18, local time. This figure far exceeds FIFA’s previous estimate of $11 billion prior to the opening of the North and Central America World Cup.
FIFA operates on a four-year financial cycle that ends in the year a World Cup takes place. The revenue from the year the World Cup is held accounts for approximately 80% of total revenue during each four-year cycle, highlighting its critical significance.
Previously, FIFA achieved a record $7.57 billion in revenue for the 2019–2022 fiscal cycle, which included the Qatar World Cup. If revenue for the 2023–2026 fiscal cycle surpasses $15 billion, it would nearly double that of the previous period.
Factors contributing to increased revenue include an expanded number of participating countries and matches, service fees from secondary ticket sales, and advertisements during hydration breaks.
For the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, FIFA expanded the number of participating nations from 32 to 48. Accordingly, the total number of matches increased from 64 to 104. Both spectator attendance and ticket sales also saw explosive growth.
On July 20, FIFA announced that the total attendance for all 104 matches of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup reached 6,810,966. This is nearly double the previous record for total World Cup attendance set at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, which was 3,587,538. The average number of spectators per match was 65,490, and the stadium occupancy rate was recorded at 99.7%.
The hydration breaks, held for three minutes in each half, served as a new stream of advertising revenue. In the secondary ticket market, FIFA adopted a dynamic pricing system without a price cap, which had a significant impact on increased profits. FIFA charged both buyers and sellers a 15% fee based on the sale price in the official secondary market.
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FIFA is pursuing additional revenue expansion. For the 2030 World Cup, which will be held for the first time across six countries on three continents, FIFA is considering increasing the number of participating countries from the current 48 to 64. If 64 teams participate and each group is composed of four teams—similar to the former 32-team system—where the top two teams in each group advance to the tournament stage, the total number of matches would increase to 128.
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