Manchester City came out on top of FIFA’s World Cup compensation table with £3.3m, the biggest payout on the list. Their total was helped by 19 players going to the tournament, which was more than any of the other clubs named here and three more than Arsenal's 16.
City's heavy tournament footprint
That spread of players explains why City sit at the top of the list. The club's involvement was wider than anyone else's in the article, and the payout reflects that scale.
Barcelona also stand out, with eight Spain players alone in their group of World Cup representatives: Ferran Torres, Eric Garcia, Gavi, Dani Olmo, Joan Garcia, Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Pau Cubarsi. It is a neat example of how one national side can push a club's compensation total up quickly.
United, Liverpool and Chelsea also banked money
The rest of the table still spread meaningful sums across the Premier League. Manchester United were eighth on the list with £1.95m, while Liverpool finished 15th and earned a similar amount to Chelsea.
There was also a smaller wrinkle in United's case, as Kobbie Mainoo received compensation despite not playing a single minute at the tournament. [Mirror Football](plain_text_only:mirror football) put it simply: "Premier League clubs picked up handy bonuses thanks to their players' exploits at the World Cup."
The pattern is straightforward enough. The clubs that supplied the most players ended up with the biggest payouts, and City were the clearest winners in both cash and involvement.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
