WORLD CUP 2022
US women’s cash boost after US men qualify for World Cup 2022 knockout stages
The USWNT will earn more money from the 2022 men’s World Cup than from winning their own championships in 2015 and 2019.
Back in May the United States women’s national team agreed to a historic deal with the US Soccer Federation in their battle for equality. This would see the US men’s and women’s soccer teams share prize money from now on during their respective World Cup participations, and since the USMNT have now qualified for the knockout stages in Qatar, the USWNT will earn a big payout.
The United States men’s national team secured their spot in the round of 16 on Tuesday after defeating Iran 1-0 with a solo goal from Christian Pulisic in the 38th minute. That was enough to finish in second place in Group B and now they will be playing against the Netherlands on Saturday in the knockout stage at Khalifa International stadium.
Joint agreement the latest victory for USWNT
This means that the men’s and women’s soccer teams will equally split all World Cup earnings from now on and, incredibly, the USWNT will be earning more money from their male equivalents this tournament than they did when they won the title in 2015 and 2019. This can be seen as a victory for the USWNT because FIFA has an unequal prize pool for men’s and women’s tournaments.
“The accomplishments in this CBA are a testament to the incredible efforts of WNT players on and off the field,” said USWNT player and USWNT players’ association president Becky Sauerbrunn. “The gains we have been able to achieve are both because of the strong foundation laid by the generations of WNT players that came before the current team and through our union’s recent collaboration with our counterparts at the [men’s players union] and leadership at US Soccer.
“We hope that this agreement and its historic achievements in not only providing for equal pay but also in improving the training and playing environment for national team players will similarly serve as the foundation for continued growth of women’s soccer both in the United States and abroad.”
According to FIFA’s website, the prize pool for teams that qualify to the first round of the knockout stages in the 2022 World Cup will be earning $13 million each. So under the new agreement the USWNT will receive $6.5 million and if the men’s team advances to the quarter-finals that figure will increase.