World Cup
FIFA’s jumbo payment for Man City as club with highest number of Qatar World Cup players
For the second straight World Cup, Manchester City topped the list of FIFA payments to clubs whose players were selected for the 32 national teams in Qatar.
From the $209 million fund allocated by FIFA, the Premier League and Champions League winner received almost $4.6 million — eclipsing the total sent to the entire continent of Africa, which had five national teams at the World Cup. The list published Thursday showed a total of 18 African clubs combined to earn $4.57 million.
FIFA said 440 clubs in 51 countries were rewarded with payments funded by the governing body’s $7.5 billion income for the four-year commercial cycle mostly tied to the 2022 men’s tournament.
The project that was launched for the 2010 World Cup again starkly showed how clubs in soccer’s wealthiest and dominant continent have nurtured, lured and retained much of the best talent.
Clubs in UEFA member countries got $159 million, 76% of the total fund, and clubs in England accounted for $37.7 million, FIFA said.
A fifth-tier club in England, Boreham Wood, got more than double the FIFA payment — $31,026 vs $15,513 — due to Santos, the storied Brazilian team that was Pelé’s home and where Neymar started his career.
FIFA calculated the payments at a daily rate of $10,950 for each of 837 players doing duty in Qatar until the day after their team’s last game. Each player’s allocation was divided among clubs who held their registration since the 2020-21 season.
Man City was due payments for players ranging from Julián Álvarez and its former defender Nicolás Otamendi in Argentina’s title-winning team, six members of England’s quarterfinalist team and Belgium playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who exited in the group stage. City had received a list-leading $5 million from FIFA’s $209 million at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Barcelona was the next highest earner on the 2022 list with $4.54 million, including $131,405 for Lionel Messi’s time with the club in 2020-21 until leaving for Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern Munich’s share was more than $4.3 million, including payments for four players from runner-up France’s squad.
Though Italy did not qualify for the World Cup, 27 Italian clubs earned a total of $18.7 million from their foreign players. Juventus got more than $3 million, including $394,215 for France’s Adrien Rabiot and allocations from Argentina trio Ángel Di María, Leandro Paredes and Paulo Dybala.
A player with finalists Argentina and France who had been with the same club since the start of the 2020-21 season earned $394,215 for that club.
However, storied Argentinian club Boca Juniors is due just $32,851 for defender Nahuel Molina’s brief stay with the club in the 2020-21 season before moving to Europe. River Plate, Boca’s rival in Buenos Aires, was due $1.2 million.
Spanish clubs collectively earned $24.2 million, German clubs shared a little over $21 million and French clubs’ payout was $16.5 million.
Saudi Arabian clubs led the Asian list with $6.6 million and host nation Qatar’s clubs got $6.3 million. Clubs in the United States got $5.4 million, topped by $827,000 for the Seattle Sounders.
Morocco’s historic run as the first African team to reach the semifinals was achieved with many Europe-based players. Just two Moroccan clubs in Casablanca earned money from FIFA: $1.4 million to Wydad and $31,938 to Raja.
Just $20,075 went to a single club in Senegal, Génération Foot, for the 27 players in the national team squad that reached the round of 16 in Qatar. It included Sadio Mané, who withdrew injured before the first game.
FIFA payments from its World Cup revenues were agreed to as part of a settlement with an elite group of clubs that formed the European Club Association in 2008.
The fund total is negotiated when FIFA-ECA working agreements are renewed and will be $355 million for each men’s World Cup in 2026 and 2030.
The 2026 World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the first with 48 teams and an expected 1,104 players selected.
-AP
Canada Soccer cheekily courted Italy’s crestfallen supporters on Saturday, urging them to swap their Azzurri blue strips for maple leaf red after the four-time champions suffered another World Cup failure.
“Dear Italian soccer fans, don’t wait four more years. Swap your jersey for Canada,” the sports governing body posted on X on Friday, directing fans to gather outside Cafe Diplomatico, a popular restaurant in Toronto’s Little Italy neighbourhood.
The light-hearted appeal followed Italy’s third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup after a playoff defeat by Bosnia on Tuesday, a setback that led to the resignations of coach Gennaro Gattuso and federation president Gabriele Gravina.
Canada, who will co-host the World Cup alongside Mexico and the United States, seized the moment to call for fans to support their country instead.
Local media reported hundreds of supporters queued for the Italy-for-Canada jersey exchange, though the offer proved more symbolic than transactional. Canada Soccer handed out 2026 shirts and posters to fans — and did so without collecting a single Italian jersey in return.
-Reuters
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World Cup
Nigeria and Other Top-Ranked Teams Missing At 2026 World Cup Raise Questions Over Global Football Balance
By Kunle Solaja.
Despite the expansion of the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams, several high-profile nations—including some ranked within the top 30 globally—will not feature at the 2026 finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada, underlining the increasingly unforgiving nature of modern qualification.
The most striking absence is the four-time world champions Italy national football team, who failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup after losing on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European playoffs.
Once a permanent fixture at the global showpiece, Italy’s continued absence has triggered widespread criticism at home, with many describing the situation as a national sporting crisis.
Europe’s Big Casualties
Italy are not alone among Europe’s elite in missing out. Countries such as Denmark’s national football team, Poland’s national football team and Serbia’s national football team, all of whom have consistently hovered around the top tiers of FIFA rankings in recent years, also failed to make the cut.
Poland’s elimination is particularly significant, as it likely marks the end of World Cup ambitions for veteran striker Robert Lewandowski, while Denmark’s absence comes after years of steady progress on the international stage.
Serbia, boasting a generation of technically gifted players, were also among those eliminated during the qualification process.
African Heavyweights Left Out
Africa will send a record number of teams to the expanded tournament, yet notable absentees remain.
Three-time African champions Nigeria national football team and five-time AFCON winners Cameroon national football team both failed to qualify after disappointing campaigns.
Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions are among Africa’s big names missing at the World Cup.
Nigeria’s absence is particularly glaring given the quality of players such as Victor Osimhen, while Cameroon fell short despite a squad featuring several Europe-based stars.
South American Decline
In South America, the Chile national football team continue their dramatic fall from grace. Once Copa América champions, Chile finished bottom of the CONMEBOL qualifying table, extending their World Cup absence to three editions.
Emerging Pattern: Expansion Without Guarantees
The absence of these established football nations highlights a key reality: even with 48 slots, World Cup qualification remains fiercely competitive.
While debutants such as Cape Verde, Curaçao and Uzbekistan have secured historic places at the finals, traditional powers have faltered under pressure.
Analysts note that this shift reflects a broader trend in global football—greater parity, improved development structures in smaller nations, and declining dominance of traditional heavyweights.
A World Cup Without Familiar Faces
The 2026 tournament will therefore present a unique landscape—one where emerging nations share the stage while several established powers watch from home.
For fans, it promises freshness and unpredictability. For the absent giants, however, it serves as a stark reminder that reputation alone is no longer enough to secure a place at football’s biggest event.
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By Kunle Solaja.
A remarkable storyline is emerging ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as no fewer than seven countries have secured returns to the global football showpiece after prolonged absences spanning decades.
Leading the list are Haiti and DR Congo, both of which are back on the World Cup stage after an astonishing 52-year absence. Haiti last featured at the tournament in 1974, the same year DR Congo, then known as Zaire, made their only previous appearance.
European sides Scotland national football team, Norway national football team and Austria national football team are also ending 28-year waits.
Scotland’s last outing came in 1998, while Norway and Austria have similarly endured long spells away from the competition despite periods of promise in European football.
South America will see the return of the Paraguay national football team, who are back after a 16-year hiatus, having last appeared at the 2010 finals in South Africa.
On the African continent, the South Africa national football team will make a long-awaited comeback after 16 years, their previous participation coming when they hosted the tournament in 2010.
The wave of returning nations highlights the expanding opportunities created by the enlarged 48-team format for the 2026 World Cup, which will be staged across Canada, the United States and Mexico.
For many of these countries, qualification marks not just a sporting achievement but a generational milestone, rekindling national pride and offering a new era of players the chance to perform on football’s biggest stage after decades in the wilderness.
With traditional powers and returning underdogs set to collide, the 2026 tournament is already shaping up to be one of the most diverse and unpredictable in World Cup history.
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