England are now in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup. With the trophy regarded as the ultimate prize in football, taking part in the tournament is something that money can't buy for many of Gareth Southgate's squad.
But what sort of payment do they receive for representing their country on the international stage? We all know that footballers can earn millions of pounds playing for their club week in, week out - but here's everything you need to know about player payments for England duties.
How much do England players get paid for playing at the World Cup?
Read next: Clean Air Zone sees stretch of South Bristol road removed but only for 230 yards
While many of the players in the squad are amongst the highest paid in the Premier League, the amount that they receive for representing their country pales in comparison to their weekly club wage. It is understood that England players earn around £2,000 per game - but since 2007, they have been donating that money to the England Football Foundation, which then distributes it to charities, raising more than £5 million in the last 15 years, Wales Online reports.
So, although players could earn up to £14,000 if they make it to the final of the World Cup, or even the third-place playoff, they will not see any of it. As well as a standard match fee, England players also enjoy a competition winning bonus system, with new payments made depending on how far they progress in the tournament.
Prior to the World Cup, the Mail on Sunday reported that Three Lions players stand to receive around £500,000 each in win bonuses if they lift the trophies, while leading players are also in line for commercial bonuses worth several million pounds. The FA is understood to have more than doubled the size of the players' bonus pot from the 2018 World Cup, where each player stood to pocket £215,000 if they won the tournament.
In Qatar, this pot is around £13 million, which would be shared among the 26-man squad. Southgate would also receive a bonus of about £3m if England win the World Cup, with this payment made on top of his £6m-a-year contract.
How much do teams earn?
Teams can earn big money by making it far in the competition. FIFA has confirmed that the tournament winners will receive a record £35million this time around, a £3million increase from 2018 and a huge £27million jump from the 2006 World Cup in Germany, according to The Sun.
Every team who qualified for Qatar earned £1.2million for doing so, and the tournament breakdown is as follows:
- Group stage - £7.5m
- Round of 16 - £11m
- Quarter-finals - £14m
- Fourth place - £21m
- Third place - £23m
- Runners-up - £25m
- Winners - £35m
Who is the highest-paid member of the England squad?
Many members of Southgate's side are among the highest-paid footballers in the world, picking up hundreds of thousands of pounds per week at their club sides. The highest-paid member of the England World Cup 2022 squad is Chelsea's Raheem Sterling, who reportedly earns around £325,000 a week at the London club after moving there this summer.
He is closely followed by a trio Manchester City players, with Jack Grealish pocketing £300,000 a week and John Stones earning £250,000, while Phil Foden's weekly wage is reportedly around £225,000. However, Sterling isn't the highest-paid English player in the league, with Jadon Sancho, who was left out of Southgate's 26-man squad, topping the list with a staggering weekly wage of £350,000 at Manchester United.
Meanwhile, Reece James, who missed out on the World Cup through injury, is also among the highest earners, picking up £250,000 a week at Chelsea. The top 10 highest earning England World Cup 2022 players is as follows:
- Raheem Sterling - Chelsea - £325,00 p/w
- Jack Grealish - Manchester City - £300,000 p/w
- John Stones - Manchester City - £250,000 p/w
- Phil Foden - Manchester City - £250,000 p/w
- Harry Kane - Tottenham Hotspur - £200,000 p/w
- Marcus Rashford - Manchester United - £200,000 p/w
- Harry Maguire - Manchester United - £190,000 p/w
- Trent Alexander-Arnold - Liverpool - £180,000 p/w
- Kyle Walker - Man City - £175,000 p/w
- Kalvin Phillips - Man City - £150,000 p/w
Read next:
