A whopping £37.5million will be dished out to the winner of next summer’s World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, FIFA have confirmed.
The remarkable prize was approved by the footballing body at a meeting in Doha on Tuesday ahead of FIFA’s annual awards evening.
It was decided that the overall fund available for competing nations will be set at an eye-watering £545m, up some 50 per cent on the total in Qatar four years ago.
The announcement comes just a day after FIFA buckled under pressure from fans to cut ticket prices.
Supporters were left incensed last week when initial prices were released, with the cheapest tickets for England’s opening match against Croatia set at £200, while the most affordable seat at the final was more than £4,000.
However FIFA responded to backlash by guaranteeing an unspecified number of tickets, thought to be about 10 per cent of the overall allocation handed to each nation taking part, at a cost of £45.
In England’s case, the tickets – which will be available for all games – will go to members of the official supporters’ club.
While the figure is relatively small, the move represents a significant victory for campaigners and fans.
FIFA’s initial categorisation meant England fans faced shelling out more than £5,000 should Thomas Tuchel’s side reach the final at the tournament, which is being held in the US, Canada and Mexico.
The development comes following talks with member associations, which included the FA and German federation.
A FIFA spokesperson said: ‘Fans of the national teams that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ will benefit from a dedicated ticket pricing tier, which has been designed to make following their teams on football’s greatest stage more affordable.
‘The newly introduced Supporter Entry Tier will be available at the fixed price of USD 60 per ticket for each of the 104 matches, including the final.’
England have been handed an allocation of eight per cent of capacity at each game. That means for the opener against Croatia in Dallas, they will be given 4,000 in total with 400 available at £45. However, there are more than 600 ‘top cappers’, the highest tier in the group, so FA bosses will have to decide how to distribute them. A ballot is thought to be most likely.
In an email to the England Supporters Travel Club, seen by Daily Mail Sport, fans have been warned ‘not to cancel any applications at this stage’. Following the outcry, meetings took place over the weekend and early this week with senior officials in Doha, Qatar.
A FIFA official close to those discussions said: ‘Demand for tickets has been off the scale, more than 20 million requests so far in this latest phase. We have listened to feedback and this new category is the right thing to do.
‘Making $60 tickets available to more fans, including the most loyal ones who travel, was agreed on unanimously.
‘Associations will need to work out who best should receive them.
‘It’s a unique tournament and a unique market in the USA, in particular, which allows resales on secondary platforms. The demand is sky high.
‘No organisation does more to support the development of the game around the world than FIFA. All 211 associations, including the poorest countries, will benefit from a commercially successful World Cup.’
