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The 2026 World Cup will be here before we know it, but there are a few qualifiers still to play before then. Luckily, for any club losing players to the international break, there is a big financial reward to come.
Obviously, the focus for Championship clubs right now is getting points on the board and working towards their goals for the season.
Unfortunately, the EFL campaign is interrupted multiple times per year for international breaks. We’ve just passed one, but there are World Cup qualifiers taking place in October, November, and again in March 2026.
That’s not ideal, of course, but teams that have to sacrifice their players to international duty are about to get significantly rewarded from here on out.
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FIFA to pay out £260m for players leaving on international duty for World Cup
As per Sky Sports, it’s revealed FIFA plan to boost their payments to clubs that release players for international duty by 70%.
In total, the funding for this will reach £260m. This will then be split across any and all clubs on a pro-rata basis under the FIFA Club Benefits Programme.
Essentially, FIFA intends to reward teams based on the amount of players they have representing their country. The payments also depend on how long the players are away for.
FIFA states: “The total amount allocated for the FIFA Club Benefits Programme is divided by the total number of days spent at the tournament by all the players involved. This equation produces a ‘per player, per day’ figure that can be used to calculate the benefits owed.”
Now, the payments will be made for qualifying games as well as the actual tournament in the USA next summer.
The total amount payable to teams is unknown at this stage, of course. However, during the 2022 World Cup, clubs received just over £8,000 per day for their players. We can expect that figure to be significantly higher this time around.
If that 70% figure is to be applied, we can assume teams may get £13,600 per player, per day.
Championship teams like Birmingham City can benefit from FIFA changes
If we look at the Championship players on international duty during September, we can see which clubs could benefit most.
Birmingham City had six players away for the international break, before Demarai Gray had to withdraw through injury.
Wrexham and Watford also had six players representing their country during the last break and could reap the rewards of FIFA’s new plans.
| Club | Players on international duty in September 2025 |
| Birmingham City | 6 |
| Wrexham | 6 |
| Watford | 6 |
| Ipswich Town | 5 |
| Blackburn Rovers | 4 |
| Derby County | 4 |
| Norwich City | 4 |
| Portsmouth | 4 |
| Southampton | 4 |
| West Brom | 4 |
| Sheffield United | 3 |
| Stoke City | 3 |
| Swansea City | 3 |
| Middlesbrough | 3 |
| Leicester City | 3 |
| Charlton Athletic | 3 |
| Millwall | 2 |
| Coventry City | 2 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 2 |
| QPR | 2 |
| Preston North End | 1 |
| Oxford United | 1 |
| Hull City | 1 |
| Bristol City | 1 |
Teams like Bristol City, Hull City, Oxford United and Preston North End will hardly benefit, though. They each had one player on international duty earlier this month.
Obviously, the final amounts received will depend on which nations actually qualify for the World Cup and how long they stay in the tournament.
One thing’s for sure, plenty of teams will be rooting for the likes of Jamaica, Republic of Ireland, and Wales. Those three countries are heavily represented by players in the second tier at present.