The FIFA World Cup 2022 had a total prize pool of $440 million or Rs 3,600 crore. Out of that, the Argentina football team have now won $42 million or Rs 344 crore while defending champions France have to be satisfied with $30 million or Rs 245 crore.
Argentina defeated France in a dramatic final clash via penalties to emerge as champions in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Doha on Sunday (December 18) night. It was Argentina’s third World title and their first after a gap of 36 years. Captain and talisman Lionel Messi completed a long-cherished dream and walked home with a huge prize money.
The FIFA World Cup 2022 had a total prize pool of $440 million or Rs 3,600 crore. Out of that, the Argentina football team have now won $42 million or Rs 344 crore while defending champions France have to be satisfied with $30 million or Rs 245 crore.
FIFA World Cup 2018 runners-up Croatia, who finished third after defeating Morocco in 2022, will get $27 million or Rs 220 crore while Morocco will be getting $25 million or Rs 204 crore for reaching the semifinal stage.
The 2018 FIFA world cup champions France received $38 million in prize money four years ago, making this year’s championship the greatest sum of money FIFA has ever awarded. The prize money given to the winning team increased from $8 million in 2002 to $20 million in 2006, a $4 million increase, not even the biggest so far.
The World Cup winner today receives an overall sum that is more than five times greater than it was 20 years back, thanks to increasing tournament revenue making sure that such gains have been allocated to winning teams.
The amount of prize money offered for the men’s and women’s World Cups continues to be drastically different. The overall prize money for the 2022 World Cup is $440 million, but the prize money for the 2023 Women’s World Cup is only $60 million, a $380 million difference.
Meanwhile, Brazil great Pelé congratulated Lionel Messi and Argentina for winning the World Cup and Kylian Mbappé for his goal-scoring exploits in Sunday’s final. Pelé, who won a record three World Cups as a player, has been in the hospital to treat a respiratory infection.
He posted his message on Instagram after Argentina beat defending champion France 4-2 in a penalty shootout following a 3-3 draw at Lusail Stadium in Qatar.
“Today, football continues to tell its story, as always, in an enthralling way,” Pelé wrote in his post. “Messi winning his first World Cup, as his trajectory deserved. My dear friend, Mbappé, scoring four goals in a final. What a gift it was to watch this spectacle to the future of our sport.”
Messi scored two goals in the match and finally won the lone trophy that had eluded him in his remarkable career. Mbappé, who scored in the 2018 title match when he was a teenager just as Pelé did in 1958, became only the second player in history to score a hat trick in the World Cup final.
Both Messi and Mbappé also scored in the penalty shootout. Messi ended up winning the Golden Ball award as the best player of the tournament and Mbappé won the Golden Boot award as the top scorer with eight goals in seven matches.
(with PTI inputs)
