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As if the U.S. women's national team needed any more motivation heading into next summer's tournament, the financial incentives have just grown substantially.
The four-time Women's World Cup champions (1991, 1999, 2015, 2019) suffered a stunning embarrassment three years ago on a stage they had long dominated. The USWNT was eliminated in the round of 16 at the 2023 World Cup, falling to Sweden in a penalty shootout in what stands as the team's earliest-ever exit from the competition.
The team did manage to capture gold at the following summer's Olympic Games under newly appointed head coach Emma Hayes, yet reclaiming the throne of soccer's most coveted prize has remained the primary goal.
The Stars and Stripes will also welcome the notable boost in earnings. FIFA is reportedly planning to significantly raise the prize money for the 2027 Women's World Cup, according to Sky Sports News. Performance-based payouts will total $220 million across the 32 teams competing in Brazil, subject to approval by the FIFA Council in December. That figure doubles the $110 million distributed at the 2023 Australia and New Zealand tournament and is more than seven times the $30 million shared at the 2019 France edition.
It represents a meaningful step forward for the women's game, though it still falls short of the prize money awarded at the 2026 men's tournament held across North America — an equality goal FIFA president Gianni Infantino had publicly voiced back in 2023.
"Our ambition would, of course, to be able to have equality in payments for the 2026 men's and 2027 Women's World Cup," Infantino said ahead of the tournament. "This is the objective we set to ourselves. FIFA is stepping up with actions not just with words ... but unfortunately this is not the case with everyone across the industry. Broadcasters and sponsors, dear friends, have to do more in this respect."
The 2026 World Cup — which reportedly generated a record $15 billion in revenue driven by unprecedented ticket resale prices, heavily scrutinized commercial deals and broadcast agreements — featured a record-breaking performance-based prize pool of $655 million distributed among 48 competing nations. If prize pools were equalized between the men's and women's tournaments, the 2027 Brazil edition would offer a performance-based pot of at least $436 million, adjusted for the 16 fewer teams in the field.
Yet, even with this substantial pay disparity, USWNT players find themselves in a uniquely advantageous position.
Why the USWNT Wins No Matter What
U.S. Soccer reached a landmark collective bargaining agreement with both the men's and women's national teams in 2022, equalizing pay for the first time in the federation's history. The CBAs, valid through 2028, made USSF the first national governing body to guarantee equal compensation for both sexes, including prize money from the 2026 men's and 2027 women's tournaments.
The U.S. Soccer players' unions agreed to pool World Cup prize money from both the men's and women's editions of the tournament (2026 and 2027). Twenty percent of that combined pool goes to the federation itself, while the remaining 80% is divided equally among 52 players — 26 men and 26 women.
The U.S. men's national team received $16 million in performance-based prize money from FIFA after advancing to the round of 16 this summer, translating to $12.8 million for the 52 players and $3.2 million for the federation. As a result, each player — the 26 on the USMNT roster this summer and the 26 on the USWNT roster next summer — took home approximately $246,153, not counting any additional payments from the $12.5 million in guaranteed compensation FIFA provided to each participating nation.
The same arrangement will apply next summer, with USWNT players sharing their prize earnings with their USMNT counterparts. If the 2027 Brazil champions claim roughly 7.6% of the total performance-based prize pool — as this summer's winners Spain did by earning $50 million of the $655 million pot — U.S. Soccer could expect a windfall of $16.72 million for a USWNT title, excluding guaranteed participation bonuses. That would translate to approximately $257,230 per player across both the USMNT and USWNT rosters.
This summer's 2026 runners-up Argentina collected $33 million in performance-based prizes, roughly 5% of the total pool. Should the USWNT reach but lose the final next summer, each U.S. Soccer player would pocket around $169,230. A repeat round-of-16 exit would yield approximately $82,584 per player.