THE RICH GET RICHER: FIFA made $7.6B from 2019-22, projects $11B earnings between now and 2026

The FIFA Council has approved the Annual Report 2022 , which highlighted the organization’s record‑breaking revenue of $7.6 billion during the 2019‑2022 cycle and the $11 billion that is expected to be earned during the 2023‑2026 period, it was announced on Tuesday.

“FIFA’s unprecedented investment in football is the result of our solid financial transparency and stands as a concrete example of how we are aiming to make football truly global,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in a statement. “The resounding success of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has been key to the organisation’s ability to fulfil its mission in relation to our member associations and the world of football, despite the multiple challenges we faced during the past cycle, not least the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Following the decision taken by the FIFA Council in December to expand the Club World Cup from 24 to 32 teams, with the first such edition set to take place in June-July 2025, the Council unanimously approved the respective slot allocation. The decision was taken based on a set of objective metrics and criteria, and the resulting allocation is as follows: AFC: 4, CAF: 4, Concacaf: 4, CONMEBOL: 6, OFC: 1, UEFA: 12 and tournament host: 1.

In regards to the Club World Cup 2023, which is due to be played under the current format with seven clubs, the FIFA Council unanimously appointed the Saudi Arabian Football Federation as tournament hosts from Dec. 12-22.

The council confirmed that, in line with the long‑standing tradition of having all hosts competing at the World Cup, as well as sporting and operational considerations, the hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2026, namely Canada, Mexico and the USA, will qualify automatically for the final round of the competition, with their slots being deducted from the overall allocation of six assigned to Concacaf. Details will follow in due course regarding the preliminary competitions in all confederations for that competition.

The council also updated on the appointment of the following tournaments by the FIFA Congress as per the following dates:

* 2027 Women’s World Cup, with bids in the second quarter of 2024 (with bid regulations for approval in March 2023)

* 2030 World Cup with bids in the third quarter of 2024 (with bid regulations for approval in June 2023)

* 2031 Women’s World Cup, with bids in the second quarter of 2025 (with bid regulations for approval in the second quarter of 2024).