Why Inter Miami pockets almost $500k from Messi and De Paul’s 2026 World Cup final run

Lionel Messi has made even more money for his club Inter Miami at the 2026 World Cup. The Argentine star earned the Herons thousands of dollars for every day the Qatar 2022 champions remained at soccer’s biggest tournament.

And as we know, that was right to the end.

How much does Inter Miami make from Messi World Cup exploits?

While Argentina didn’t win the final, they did make it all the way to the showpiece game at the New York New Jersey Stadium, where Spain outclassed them to the title, Messi has reportedly earned the US club around $285,000. Add Rodrigo de Paul, Messi’s teammate for club and country, and the MLS champions can enjoy a $415,625 boost, less than double as Atlético Madrid, De Paul’s former team, would also receive money.

Why does Inter Miami make money from World Cup?

The reason for this extra cash injection is because FIFA had set up a $355 million fund to compensate clubs for each player called up, a significant increase from the little more than $200 million allocated at Qatar in 2022.

Inter Miami was, therefore, collecting $5,000 for every day one of its called-up players spent at the tournament. Dayne St. Clair, the goalkeeper called up by Canada, also added to the coffers, with the co-host impressively reaching the last 16 before losing to African champions Morocco. The goalkeeper joined the club in January 2026 and his addition took the total to around $450,000.

Miami’s best/worst-case scenarios

Out of interest, if Argentina and Canada had both been knocked out in the group stage, the amount wouldn’t have fallen by much. Inter Miami would still have pocketed $416,666.

Inter Miami’s ceiling was $475,000, but that would only have happened in the hypothetical case that both Argentina and Canada reached the World Cup final. The bracket quickly ruled that out.

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