The 2026 FIFA World Cup has kicked off across North America. FIFA, the governing body that organizes it, is widely seen as a prosperous organization. After all, it governs the world’s most popular sport and its most prestigious event. It’s regarded as a machine generating billions of dollars.
But that perception is not the case because of one key factor: FIFA’s financial model operates on four-year cycles centred on the World Cup. Under this model, the years without a World Cup almost always result in a deficit.
