World Cup 2026 Set to Generate Record $13 Billion in Revenue for FIFA This Summer as Tournament Ends

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, wrapping up its month-long run across the United States, Mexico and Canada, is on pace to become the most financially successful tournament in the sport’s history, with soccer’s governing body projecting total revenue of roughly $13 billion across its four-year commercial cycle, the majority of it generated directly by this summer’s expanded 48-team tournament.

According to data compiled by Sports Value based on FIFA’s own annual reports, total revenue for the 2026 tournament is projected to reach approximately $10.9 billion, a 56% increase over the $7 billion generated by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. That prior tournament had itself marked a 32% jump over the cycle before it, underscoring the pace at which FIFA’s revenue has continued climbing with each successive edition. Business Standard reported that FIFA’s broader four-year commercial cycle, which culminates in this year’s tournament, is expected to bring in close to $13 billion in total income, with roughly $8.9 billion of that figure generated by the World Cup itself. That total represents a 72% increase over the cycle that ended with the Qatar tournament and more than double the revenue generated during the 2015-2018 cycle.

FIFA’s original budget for the current 2023-2026 commercial cycle had projected revenue of $11 billion, a figure that was already a substantial increase over prior cycles before being revised upward as the tournament approached. Given that FIFA exceeded its own revenue forecasts for the 2022 Qatar World Cup by more than $1 billion, some analysts have suggested the final tally for 2026 could climb even higher once all figures are finalized after the tournament’s conclusion.

Broadcasting rights remain FIFA’s single largest source of income, projected to contribute close to $4 billion to the current cycle, according to Business Standard. Sponsorship revenue is expected to add roughly $1.8 billion, boosted by new commercial partnerships secured ahead of this year’s tournament, including a deal with Saudi energy company Aramco. The expansion from 32 to 48 participating teams, which added significantly more matches to this year’s tournament compared with previous editions, has also played a direct role in driving broadcasting revenue higher, with FIFA expecting television rights income to surpass every previous World Cup edition, according to reporting cited by The Guardian.

Beyond FIFA’s own direct revenue, the tournament’s broader economic footprint has been the subject of extensive analysis by FIFA and the World Trade Organization, which jointly released a socioeconomic impact study estimating the 2026 World Cup could generate a global gross output impact of $80.07 billion. Of that total, roughly 38%, or $30.46 billion, is projected to flow to the United States, with the remaining 62%, or $49.61 billion, distributed across the rest of the world. The same study estimated the tournament’s impact on global gross domestic product at $40.92 billion, with 42% of that figure benefiting the U.S. economy, alongside an estimated $20.77 billion in global labor income, of which roughly 49% is projected to reach American workers. FIFA said in its report that spending tied to the World Cup has rippled through value chains across the U.S. economy, with the accommodation and food services sector benefiting most, followed by real estate and wholesale and retail trade.

FIFA and the WTO’s analysis also projected the tournament would support the creation of nearly 824,000 jobs globally, including roughly 185,000 full-time equivalent positions within the United States alone, alongside $17.2 billion in U.S. gross domestic product and $30.5 billion in U.S. gross output specifically. Attendance projections tied to those economic estimates put expected World Cup turnout at approximately 6.5 million fans across the tournament’s run.

Not every analysis of the tournament’s economic impact has painted an entirely rosy picture for host cities specifically. Research examined by North Carolina State University in June cautioned that economic impact studies surrounding major events like the World Cup often overstate local benefits by counting total visitor spending without accounting for public costs or spending that would have occurred regardless of the tournament. According to that analysis, FIFA captures the substantial majority of the tournament’s financial gains through media rights, sponsorships and ticketing, while host cities themselves generally absorb major costs tied to security, transportation, stadium preparation and public services, with limited direct revenue flowing back to local governments. “Historical evidence gives us little reason to expect substantial, lasting economic gains for host cities,” one researcher involved in that analysis said, noting that local economic benefits tend to be concentrated in tourism and hospitality sectors and typically fade once the tournament concludes.

That tension has played out publicly in some host cities. In New York, a spokesperson for Mayor Zohran Mamdani pushed back on a city comptroller’s more conservative economic estimate ahead of the tournament, arguing it failed to capture the full scope of the World Cup’s benefit to the city, pointing instead to a projected $1.7 billion in direct regional spending expected to translate into hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. Fortune reported that figure, along with FIFA’s own separate claim of $432 million in projected state and local tax revenue, actually described the broader New York-New Jersey region rather than New York City’s specific share of that economic activity. The New York-New Jersey host committee, working alongside the consultancy Tourism Economics, separately projected $3.3 billion in regional economic impact and more than 26,000 jobs tied to the tournament, a figure the committee unveiled during a ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange.

In Canada, the country’s Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated total government support for hosting World Cup matches at 1.066 billion Canadian dollars, including 473 million dollars from the federal government and 593 million dollars from other levels of government, working out to roughly 82 million Canadian dollars per match across the 13 matches hosted in the country.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino campaigned for his role in 2016 on a promise to quadruple the organization’s income, a goal Fortune reported he appears on track to fulfill once final 2026 revenue figures are tallied following Sunday’s championship match. With the tournament now concluding after Argentina and Spain’s World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey, FIFA is expected to release updated revenue figures in the coming months as final broadcasting, sponsorship and ticketing totals are confirmed, figures that could ultimately push the 2026 World Cup’s total economic footprint even higher than current projections suggest.