FIFA World Cup jackpot: What does Spain take home after beating Argentina?

FIFA president Gianni Infantino promised this World Cup would be the biggest in the tournament’s history. And it has been. It has seen more teams and more matches than ever before. It also saw for the first time a half-time show where celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Madonna, Shakira, along with Bruna Boy and BTS performed.

This big, huge tournament culminated with a mouth-watering final — Spain vs Argentina — where all sides were looking forward to Lionel Messi’s side taking on Yamine Lamal and Co. When the final whistle blew, Spain emerged triumphant with a 1-0 scoreline after Ferran Torres scored a dramatic extra-time winner. With this, Lionel Messi’s dreams of a triumphant farewell to football’s greatest stage.

More from Explainers

Trump lingers on stage to lap up World Cup spotlight, garners booes instead

Looking for love? The FIFA World Cup is where you may find the right match

This victory gives Spain its second World Cup along with the bragging rights. But it also gives the South American nation a record financial reward from FIFA, the iconic trophy and for the first time, the winners will also receive a championship ring.

World Cup prize money in the millions

Spain hasn’t just won its second World Cup; it has also won $50 million (Rs 482 crore) in prize money, up $8 million (Rs 77 crore) from the previous World Cup in Qatar.

Argentina, who are runners-up, have also received a payout of $33 million (Rs 318 crore) while England, who came in third, received $29 million (Rs 280 crore), and the fourth-placed finisher $27 million (Rs 260 crore).

Notably, FIFA also awards prize money to beaten quarter-finalists Morocco, Belgium, Norway and Switzerland — 19 million (Rs 183 crore). Moreover, teams placed ninth through 16th receive $15 million (Rs 179 crore) whereas those place between 17th and 32nd place win $11 million. Finally, teams that place between 33rd and 48th place receive $9 million each.

Spain's Lamine Yamal celebrates on the podium with the World Cup trophy. With this win, Spain has won not just bragging rights but also a whopping $50 million in prize money. Reuters

Even teams that don’t make it out of the group stage are awarded $9 million.

However, the FIFA World Cup prize money doesn’t go to the players. Instead, it is received by the football associations and governing body of each nation. Once the prize money is handed out, the sole discretion of how the fund will be shared, lies on the respective associations.

In most cases, the association then shares the prize money among the players, coaches and support staff with the excess being donated or invested into various programmes aimed at developing football in the country.

The higher prize money, interestingly, comes after demands from federations. Some federations, especially from Europe, earlier told FIFA that the prize money structure and payments for preparation costs that had been set last year would see them lose money on the tournament unless their team went deep into the knockout rounds.

France federation president Philippe Diallo told sports daily L’Equipe that he had informed Infantino that the teams were not being properly rewarded, compared to what Club World Cup winner Chelsea got one year ago.

The World Cup trophy

Apart from winning millions, Spain also gets its hands on that beautiful gold trophy. Today’s trophy is significantly different from the original design and features two human figures triumphantly lifting Planet Earth.

Spain's Pedri and Ferran Torres kiss the trophy as they celebrate after winning the World Cup. Reuters

It is 36 centimetres tall and cast in 18-carat gold. The yellow metal in the FIFA World Cup trophy is now worth about $713,000, according to the London Stock Exchange Group, up from roughly $277,000 when Argentina lifted it in in Qatar. But the gold alone doesn’t make the trophy valuable. Factor in what the trophy represents and estimates put its overall value around $20 million.

But interestingly, Spain doesn’t get to keep the trophy. When Spain was handed the prize by US President Donald Trump, they get to celebrate with it during the post-match award ceremony. They are then handed a gold-plated replica — the FIFA World Cup Winners’ Trophy — to keep.

Along with the trophy, Spain also receives a gold medal for each of its players and coaching staff. Similarly, Argentina will collect silver ones and England bronze.

Spain's Lamine Yamal receives his winners medal from US President Donald Trump during the trophy presentation. Reuters

Earlier, medals were only awarded to the 11 players who featured in the final before 1978. Then in 2007, FIFA announced that 122 winning medals would retrospectively be given to players who missed out on places in the final starting line-up of winning nations from 1974 and beforehand.

New championship rings

In addition to receiving the prize money and the trophy, Spain also receives one new gift — championship rings. This is a tradition from the United States, one of the host countries. The rings, featuring an engraving of the World Cup, will be customised “to reflect the identity of the winning team,” according to FIFA.

FIFA announced that in addition to making 30 rings for the winning team, a limited amount of 1,996 rings made available to purchase for fans.

It’s difficult to predict the exact value of the rings, as every championship ring is unique. The images released by FIFA suggest they are crafted from yellow gold. The gold content could range from 14 to 18 karats, though FIFA has not disclosed precise specifications.

In addition, photographs provided by FIFA indicate that the rings feature a variety of precious stones that significantly increase their value. As per some news reports, the estimated value of each ring could reach around $150,000.

With inputs from agencies