2023 Women's World Cup Players Are Making More Prize Money Now & Here's How It Compares To Men
Earnings are really not even close. 😬
Players from the Canada women's national soccer team. Right: United States women's national soccer team players.
For the 2023 Women's World Cup, players from every single team will be making more money no matter how far their team goes in the competition.
But the guaranteed earnings players and teams get from this tournament are millions of dollars less than what's given out at the men's World Cup.
FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 is being held in Australia and New Zealand throughout July and August this year.
Before the start of the world's top football competition, FIFA announced a series of changes for the tournament and developments for future editions.
That is the result of collective action by athletes and FIFPRO, a union that represents professional footballers around the world.
More than 150 international footballers — including Alex Morgan, Lucy Bronze, Chinyelu Asher, Ali Riley and Christiane Endler — from 25 countries co-signed a letter to FIFA's president in October 2022.
Players had a few demands for the sport's international governing body including greater professionalization of the Women's World Cup, equal regulations and conditions, fair redistribution of prize money to players, and a pathway to equal prize money.
There is now a guaranteed compensation for all players who are selected by their national teams for the competition.
Each player at the Women's World Cup will be allocated performance-based funding and everyone will earn at least US$30,000, which is equivalent to CA$39,000 and £23,000.
Players from the winning team will each make US$270,000, which works out to CA$355,000 and £207,000, for coming in first place.
FIFA has increased the total prize pot for the 2023 Women's World Cup to US$110,000,000 — the equivalent of CA$144,942,600 and £84,302,350 — which is up from US$31,000,000 in 2019.
It will be distributed to teams on the basis of team performance at the tournament.
For the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the prize money was US$440,000,000 which works out to CA$579,770,400 and and £337,279,800.
The prize money breakdown, meaning how much went to each team in the men's competition, was:
- US$42,000,000 for the champions
- US$30,000,000 for the runners-up
- US$27,000,000 for the third-place team
- US$25,000,000 for fourth place
- US$68,000,000 for 5th to 8th place — US$17,000,000 per team
- US$104,000,000 for 9th to 16th place — US$13,000,000 per team
- US$144,000,000 for 17th to 32nd place — US$9,000,000 per team
The difference between the amount the winning team at the men's tournament gets and the prize pot that will be distributed to every team in the women's tournament is US$68,000,000.
So, it's possible that the best team in the Women's World Cup this year could make less than the worst teams in the 2022 World Cup.
Not only have players demanded fair redistribution of prize money in the 2023 Women's World Cup and guaranteed compensation for all players, but members of the American women's team have also secured fair wages.
Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan and other U.S. women's national team players reached a $24 million settlement in 2022 for their class action equal pay lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation.
The deal ensured that the women's team players get equal pay with the men's team players for winning major tournaments.
When does the Women's World Cup start?
The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup starts on Thursday, July 20 with three games — New Zealand versus Norway, Australia versus the Republic of Ireland and Nigeria versus Canada.
There will be a total of 64 matches throughout the tournament in July and August.
Games will be played from Thursday, July 20 to Sunday, August 20 which is when the final match is scheduled and a winner will be awarded the World Cup trophy.
Where can I watch Women's World Cup 2023?
If you're wondering where to watch the Women's World Cup in July and August, there are different official broadcasters in each country.
In Canada, you can watch the World Cup with TSN, CTV, RDS, RDS Info, and RDS.ca.
The official broadcasters in the U.S. are FOX, FS1, Telemundo, and Peacock.
People in England, Scotland and Wales can watch the games on BBC 1 and 2, and ITV 1 and 4.
You can find out what the official broadcasters are in other countries around the world on FIFA's TV Programme page which also includes match times that are shown in your local time.
Some World Cup matches will be shown on FIFA+ which also airs game highlights, behind-the-scenes videos, and full match replays from past World Cups.
FIFA's free streaming service is available worldwide in English, Italian, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese languages.
Who is on the Canadian women's soccer team?
Canada women's national team for the Women's World Cup includes Kailen Sheridan, Sabrina D'Angelo and Lysianne Proulx as goalkeepers.
The defenders are Allysha Chapman, Kadeisha Buchanan, Shelina Zadorsky, Jayde Riviere, Ashley Lawrence, Vanessa Gilles and Gabrielle Carle.
Midfielders are Quinn, Julia Grosso, Sophie Schmid, Jessie Fleming and Simi Awujo.
Then, the forwards are Deanne Rose, Jordyn Huitema, Evelyne Viens, Christine Sinclair, Nichelle Prine, Adriana Leon, Cloe Lacasse and Olivia Smith.
Who is on the United States women's national soccer team?
For the 2023 World Cup, the United States women's national team roster includes Alyssa Naeher, Casey Murhpy and Aubrey Kingsbury as goalkeepers.
Defenders are Sofia Huerta, Naomi Girma, Kelley O'Hara, Alana Cook, Emily Sonnett, Crystal Dunn and Emily Fox.
The midfielders are Ashley Sanchez, Julie Ertz, Savannah DeMelo, Lindsey Horan, Rose Lavelle, Andi Sullivan and Kristie Mewis.
Forwards are Lynn Williams, Alyssa Thompson, Sophia Smith, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Trinity Rodman.
Who is on the England women's national football team?
The England women's national football team has Mary Earps, Hannah Hampton and Ellie Roebuck as goalkeepers.
Lucy Bronze, Niamh Charles, Alex Greenwood, Millie Bright, Lotte Wubben-Moy, Esme Morgan and Jessica Carter are the defenders.
Midfielders are Keira Walsh, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone, Jordan Nobbs, Laura Coombs and Katie Zelem.
The forwards for the Three Lionesses are Lauren James, Rachel Daly, Lauren Hemp, Chloe Kelly, Beth England, Katie Robinson and Alessia Russo.
Canada, the U.S. and Mexico will be hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is the next men's tournament.
Games will played at stadiums in Toronto and Vancouver in Canada and Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City in Mexico.
The host cities in the U.S. are Seattle, San Francisco, L.A., Kansas City, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami and New York/New Jersey.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.