Chelsea will be one of several clubs to rake in an eye-watering sum from the FIFA Club Benefits Programme following the World Cup this summer.
The FIFA Club Benefits Programme could grant Chelsea a seven-figure fee for the participation of its players in the World Cup this summer. Some big names from Stamford Bridge will be representing their countries, competing across Canada, Mexico and the United States, in the tournament which gets underway next week.
Cole Palmer and Levi Colwill were left at home by Thomas Tuchel, making Reece James the only Chelsea player in the England squad. Enzo Fernández, who joined the Blues shortly after winning the World Cup with Argentina back in December 2022, has been called up again by Lionel Scaloni.
Didier Deschamps has named Malo Gusto in the France squad; meanwhile, Marc Cucurella, who helped Spain win the European Championship a couple of years ago, has been given the nod by Luis de la Fuente.
Pedro Neto will hope to win his second piece of silverware with Portugal this summer, having won the Nations League this time last year. Jorrel Hato has been called up by the Netherlands, while Mike Penders earned a place in the Belgium squad following his impressive performance while out on loan at Strasbourg.
FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
Kendry Paez, whom Chelsea signed from Independiente del Valle during the summer of 2023, will be joined by Moises Caicedo in the Ecuador squad. Nicolas Jackson and Mamadou Sarr, who crossed paths at the Club World Cup last year, will represent Senegal.
All in all, the Blues will have 11 players at the tournament this summer, and they’re set to be handsomely rewarded for their participation. The Club Benefits Programme pays the team for the time that their registered players spend at the World Cup.
The governing body equally pays each club per player, per day. So, the further a country progresses in the tournament, the more players earn for their respective teams, irrespective of their playing time.
According to FIFA, the Club Benefits Programme paid $10,950 (£8,178) per player, per day, to teams, distributing $209m (£156.1m) to 440 clubs from 51 associated members across all six confederations following the World Cup in 2022.
In September 2025, FIFA announced it would allocate $355m (£264m) to the Club Benefits Programme ahead of the next edition of the tournament. The day rate for the World Cup this summer, however, has yet to be announced, with teams also set to be rewarded for players’ participation in the qualifying campaign.
So, excluding the qualifier appearance money earned throughout the season and assuming Reece James was released for international duty on June 4, he could secure Chelsea a fee of £365,895 if England goes the distance and wins the competition on July 19 in New York.
The Blues could also earn around £170,751 per player just for their time with their country in the group stage. So, in a worst-case scenario, if neither of the Chelsea players manage to reach the knockout stages of the World Cup, the club would bank a combined £1,878,261.
football.london also understands that FIFA share a slice of the money to any club that a player has represented in the two prior years to the tournament, too. So, any fee earned from Jackson, Sarr, Hato, Paez, and Penders, who have either recently joined or spent some time on loan, will be split with former clubs.
Get Chelsea’s new 2026/27 home kit
£89.99
Nike
Buy Now on Nike
Chelsea have launched their new home kit for the 2026/27 season, said to be ‘a celebration of the club’s Italian Renaissance.
