Historically, the FIFA Club World Cup has been cast as rather a tournament based on prestige and probably bragging rights more than anything else but in fulfilling that role, as of 2025, it has assumed a whole new meaning – because, right at the top, there will be $1 billion (£730 million) available to win, which creates a massive opportunity for clubs across the globe to use it as a financial platform. For two big English clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea, this flows into the already massive financial packages Newport’s summer signings.
Huge Payments: The Numbers Behind the Bonanza
Let’s look at the prize structure for a start. Each club receives an amount, irrespective of their performance, conditional on “sporting and commercial criteria”. As you’d expect, teams like Manchester City and Chelsea – as representatives of UEFA – are obviously going to be at the top of that scale. City will also receive the biggest participation payout of £27.9 million. Chelsea will also receive a decent amount, even with a lesser payout than City derived from their UEFA Champions League victory.
The prize money only increases as the tournament progresses:
Win in Group Stage: £1,500,000
Draw in Group Stage: £750,000
Last 16 Qualification: £5,500,000
Quarter-finals: £9,600,000
Semi-finals: £15,300,000.
Runner Up: £21,900,000
Winners: £29,200,000
So far, Manchester City, with 3 wins from 3 in the group stage would therefore have realised £37.8 million and even Chelsea with 2 losses would have not lost too much ground on that financial advancement in prize money.
Transfer Market Meets Club World Cup Profits
Both clubs have quickly used that source of revenue, to enable their summer transfer activity.
For example, Chelsea spent £30 million on Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap – which was almost fully funded by their group stage earnings. They’ve even agreed a deal for Palmeiras superstar Estevao Willian for £29 million which again, was practically all bought for using Club World Cup prize money.
Meanwhile, City had their own spree. Rayan Ait-Nouri (£31 million from Wolves), Rayan Cherki (£30.5 million from Lyon), and Tijjani Reijnders (£46.3 million from AC Milan) signalling how prepared the Manchester club was to spend this summer. Based off their earnings from the tournament and potential progress to the tournament, City could claim to have funded their entire spree from Club World Cup footing. If they go all the way they’re set to win the tournament – which amounts to £91.9 million in total – they’ll recoup about two-thirds of their outlay on Reijnders.
This trend marks a novel inefficiency change in live football economics whereby a short format financially supported high-profile player transfers which will seriously impact clubs’ summer plans.
Club auto climbing to prominence: Club World Cup – Just seven matches, Big Winnings
An occasionally shocking aspect of this is how efficient it is from an economical view!The Champions League paid out about £95 million to PSG for winning it last season after playing 17 matches. The Club World Cup pays out nearly the same amount for playing just seven matches.
Even looking at the Premier League which is 38 rounds of football, it is to say the least, a stark difference in terms of efficiency. Yes, City earned £175.9 million for winning the entire Premier League season, but not only is the work labour extensive, it has also required City’s precious resources of time.
And of course there is the FA Cup which is,historically, always been regarded as a major part of English football. Crystal Palace beat Chelsea in the FA Cup, and received just £3.9 million for lifting the trophy—it’s nearly, if not 24 times less, than what City would earn for winning the Club World Cup.
Club Managers Stay Grounded Amid Gold Rush
Interestingly, not all of the focus has included financial gain. Interestingly enough, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was quite clear with what he said early this year when speaking about his players and staff not “deserving” any bonus from the Club World Cup windfall; “the bonus if you win…it’s for the club.” Pep said, wit not much fondness, after feeling disappointed, and trophyless, about his domestic campaign.
In contrast, Chelsea’s, manager Enzo Maresca has kept the team focused at all times on playing, not on any prize moneyAs he said, clubs never put any financial pressure: “They never put pressure on me or the players like , ‘we’ve got to win this tournament because of the money.”
A Financial Distortion for Smaller Clubs?
While England’s royalty appears to engaged the Club World Cup as a financial machine, it concurrently creates a larger distance in an already unbalanced football world. Claudius Schafer, the president of the European Leagues, voiced concern about how much larger government payouts would “distort domestic competition.”
Remember for comparison, Austria’s Salzburg, who went out altogether, pulled in over £11.5 million, which is enormous and would disbalance anyone small enough to belong in the small league we were just talking about. Auckland City, on the other hand, comprised mostly of amateur New Zealand players, were also sorting through disputes to try to access their bonus payouts and expenses.
Even the strong MLS side Seattle Sounders made clear they didn’t like this by warming up in shirts that said “Club World Ca$h Grab” in protest against the perceived lack of fairness of what they were paid in the global context.
The Bigger Picture
The 2025 Club World Cup is indeed changing how we have thought about the finances of football. The Club World Cup has become a significant source of financing for clubs – especially in Europe – to use to buy players and create clubs, from what previously could have been viewed as a fancy exhibition of the current champion of each continent’s club competitions.
Theero so yeah the sparse stadiums, the cold weather, or the awful pitches, it’s easy to make the Club World Cup go away from your mind. But when you take the stadiums and the matches out, clubs like Manchester City and Chelsea have used it to improve their own year next year in light of planning. If your a football fan, the dog days of the group stage may take on lasting consequences for squads and the next transfer market.
Look for increased scrutiny, increased revenues, and likely-more lessees in the future for what in the past has been seen as a sideshow in the football calendar.
