Average salary of a footballer in Premier league has risen to massive £55,000 a week ($75,000) and footballers are protected with multi-year contracts with their respective clubs. There contracts usually include base salary plus bonuses for achieving individual and team objectives. However when players represent their national teams they do not have professional contracts with their federations but they do get paid as “match fee” which differs from federation to federation.
When footballers go play for their national teams do they get paid any salary ?
The answer to this question is “Yes” they do get paid but not in salary terms but as fixed match fee defined by the federation for every player who represent national team. The national team friendlies and competitions are played under the banner of FIFA or regional federations like UEFA etc.
FIFA/UEFA distribute money to national team federations on a 4 year cycle plus of course the prize money for tournaments like FIFA World Cup, Euro or Copa America etc. However Every country’s federation is responsible for their own national team setup and how they compensate the players. Most of the big national team federations compensate players with match fee while some less established federations offer central contracts to its players for example in USA, Australia and India to name a few.
Most of the big federations like England, France, Germany etc. pay their national team players in fixed match fee which is very modest to say the least compared to what those players earn with their respective clubs. We take a look at some of the federations around the world and how they compensate players who represent their national teams.
England Players Match Fee & Bonuses:
English FA has a match fee and bonus system incorporated for both men and women football teams. English FA pay each player representing men’s England team £1500 (per player) for winning a match, £1000 for drawing and £500 if team lose (friendlies and qualifiers).
Major tournaments like FIFA World Cup and Euro, English FA pay £2500 per player who start the match and £1500 for rest of the squad regardless of the outcome of the match. For FIFA World Cup 2022, English FA also offered £1 million per player if England to win the world cup.
English players however have setup a charity fund for “England Footballers Foundation support Cancer Research” and they donate all their earnings from national team for this cause.
FIFA World Cup 2022 match fee and winning bonuses offered by federations:
All European federations will be paying usual match fee to their players plus bonuses for achieving certain objectives. England FA have offered £1 million per player if England win World Cup 2022. We take a look at what different federations and their bonus structures.
| NATIONAL TEAM | MATCH FEE & BONUSES |
|---|---|
| England | £3000 fee per match, £500,000 per player if they win Euro WC 2022. £250,000 for qualifying for knockouts. |
| Germany | Undisclosed match fee. €400,000 per player if Germany win WC 2022. €200,000 per player if runners up. €150,000 if they finish 3rd. |
| Spain | Undisclosed match fee, €450,000 per player for winning WC 2022. |
| France | €500,000 per player for winning WC 2022. €250,000 for runners-up and €150,000 if the fail to make it past semifinals |
| Portugal | €350,000 per player for winning the tournament. €250,000 if they finish runners-up. €1500,000 for crashing out in semifinals |
| Netherlands | €425,000 per player for winning the tournament. €250,000 to be runners-up. |
| Belgium | €400,000 per player for winning the tournament. €300,000 to be runners-up. |
| Poland | €500,000 per player to win WC 2022. €400,000 if they finish Runners-up. €300,000 to reach semifinals. |
| Brazil | USD $650,000 per player in squad for winning WC 2022. Tiered base bonuses from group wins to knockouts. |
| Australia | Players have central contracts with base salary. 1 time bonus of AUD 1 million per player if Australia reach final of WC 2022. Tiered base bonuses for every win in World Cup. |
| USA | Central contracts with base salary + match fee. Plus tier based 1 time bonus for every knockout stage. |
| Argentina | USD $600,000 per player as WC 2022 win bonus. Plus undisclosed match free and bonus for every win. |
How much footballers get paid for representing their national teams in major tournaments ?
every federation have a different match fee structure for example England players get paid £2500 per player in major tournaments for playing any match. USMNT (US national team) on the other hand get paid a monthly salary. Australian FA on the other hand have players on central contracts. So how much footballer get paid depend on the federations.
DO FIFA or UEFA pay any salary to footballers ?
No. FIFA, UEFA or any other regional federation only pay to national team federations in their revenue distribution or prize money
Do players get the prize money for major tournaments from FIFA or UEFA ?
No. FIFA, UEFA or other regional federations only pay the prize money to national team federations who might or might not pay to players as FIFA/UEFA don’t control such scenario.
