Trump to Award World Cup Trophy Sunday as Spain, Argentina Play for Record $51 Million Prize

Spain and Argentina play for the 2026 FIFA World Cup title Sunday at 3 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and President Trump is scheduled to present the trophy to the winning captain on the field, a White House official confirmed to Fox News.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino said last month on Fox & Friends that he and Trump would jointly hand over the trophy. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Trump's presence "a fitting conclusion to a tournament that showcased America's ability to host the world on the grandest stage."

This will mark Trump's first attendance at an actual World Cup match this tournament, though he was on stage last summer when Chelsea beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final, also at MetLife Stadium. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the U.S. men's team's group-stage opener against Paraguay on June 12, a 4-1 American win. Trump was also awarded FIFA's inaugural Peace Prize at the Kennedy Center in December during the final draw.

Trump inserted himself into the tournament's biggest officiating controversy earlier in the World Cup, personally calling Infantino to request a review after Folarin Balogun was hit with a red card. Balogun was initially suspended for Team USA's Round of 16 match but was later ruled eligible to play, according to Fox News.

A Record Payday for the Winner

Whoever lifts the trophy Sunday walks away with $51 million, according to the Associated Press's Luis Andres Henao and Graham Dunbar. The runner-up collects $34 million. Third-place England takes $30 million, and fourth-place France gets $28 million.

Those numbers are part of a record $871 million total prize pool FIFA distributed across all 48 participating national federations, the AP reported. That figure includes more than $100 million added in April after several European federations lobbied FIFA for help covering travel and lodging costs at a tournament spread across three countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Every team that qualified received at least $12.5 million, split between $10 million in guaranteed prize money for reaching the group stage and $2.5 million for pre-tournament training and preparation expenses. FIFA has used that upfront-payment structure in past tournaments specifically to prevent disputes between players and their federations over unpaid bonuses.

France federation president Philippe Diallo told the sports daily L'Equipe he had spent months pressing Infantino on the issue, arguing World Cup teams weren't being compensated fairly compared with what Club World Cup winner Chelsea received in 2025: $115 million, a nine-figure sum FIFA had to promise to lure major European clubs into that revamped competition.

Teams playing in the United States also faced tax obligations that don't apply to games played in Canada or Mexico, adding to the pressure that led FIFA to expand the pool.

Even with the increase, this year's champion prize is smaller than what some might expect given soccer's overall money flow. The AP noted the $51 million payout is less than the transfer fee Brighton paid this month for 19-year-old Croatian defender Luka Vušković, who spent most of the World Cup on the bench.

Still, $51 million is a substantial jump from the last men's tournament. Argentina's federation won $42 million for the 2022 title in Qatar, when the total prize fund across all 32 teams was $440 million, less than half this year's total.

Sunday's trophy presentation adds to a run of high-profile sports appearances for Trump. He attended Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, and the White House hosted UFC Freedom 250 last month. An IndyCar race is scheduled to run in Washington, D.C., next month.

Infantino has repeatedly credited the Trump administration for what he's called the tournament's "incredible success," telling attendees at a FIFA reception at Trump Tower that the White House's involvement helped deliver a historic cultural event, according to Fox News. Whether that framing holds up depends partly on how Sunday's final and its aftermath play out, including any disputes over the expanded prize pool that European federations are still pushing FIFA to review for future tournaments.

The unresolved question heading into 2030, when the tournament expands its host footprint further, is whether FIFA's new payment structure, forced by federation complaints this cycle, becomes the permanent baseline or gets renegotiated again under pressure from clubs and countries footing rising travel and lodging bills.