How much money do England players get for Women’s Euro 2022 win?
After winning their first major title on Sunday, the Lionesses are to receive a bonus reportedly described by some squad members as “life-changing”.
England’s players are set to pocket a £55,000 ($67,500) bonus after beating Germany to win Women’s Euro 2022 on Sunday.
More than many in WSL earn in a year
The widely-reported figure, which the team agreed with the Football Association (FA) before the tournament, is more than many players earn annually in the Women’s Super League (WSL), the top flight of English women’s club soccer.
Indeed, the bonus has been described by some members of Sarina Wiegman’s squad as a “life-changing amount”, according to the Telegraph.
The Lionesses, who lifted their first major international trophy thanks to substitute Chloe Kelly’s extra-time winner at Wembley, are also paid an appearance fee of £2,000 ($2,500) per match.
Although some of England’s star names are given club salaries estimated to be in the low six figures - captain Leah Williamson reportedly earned £200,000 ($245,000) at Arsenal last year, for example - younger, less established members of the squad are likely to be getting significantly less than that.
A BBC report on Monday placed the average annual wage of an WSL player at £47,000 ($59,000), while the Telegraph this month estimated that the league’s youngest footballers pick up as little as £20,000 ($24,000) a year.
All but three of England’s Euro 2022 squad - Lucy Bronze, Rachel Daly and Georgia Stanway - play in the WSL.
Bonus dwarfed by payout available to men at Euro 2020
The Lionesses’ £2,000 appearance fee is actually the same as that given to the men’s England players, but their Euro 2022 victory bonus is far less than Gareth Southgate’s squad would have netted had they beaten Italy in the Euro 2020 final last year.
A reported £5m ($6.1m) bonus pot would have been shared out among the members of the men’s team, who lost to the Azzurri on penalties. That’s nearly four times the £1.3m ($1.6m) to be distributed among the women’s players.
England win nets FA just over $2m
Meanwhile, the prize money paid to the FA after England’s Euros triumph is also much lower than the amount that was up for grabs at the men’s finals 12 months ago.
According to figures released by UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, there was a total prize pool of €16m ($16.4m) at Women’s Euro 2022, with all 16 participating nations receiving a guaranteed payment of €600,000 ($615,000).
Teams were also paid the following, cumulative performance-based bonuses: €100,000 ($102,000) for a group-stage win; €50,000 ($51,000) for a group-stage draw; €205,000 ($210,000) for reaching the quarter-finals; €320,000 ($328,000) for making the semi-finals; €420,000 ($431,000) for finishing as runners-up; and €660,000 ($677,000) for winning the tournament.
As they won all their group games on their way to lifting the European title, England earned a total of €2.085m ($2.14m).
Although this year’s overall prize fund was double that of Women’s Euro 2017, the cheque paid out to the FA remains a fraction of the €34m ($35m) given to Italy for lifting the men’s trophy.