The Lionesses could head home with hundreds of thousands of pounds if they win the Women’s World Cup, in addition to the millions some players have made through sponsorship deals
The Lionesses have made it through to the quarter-final of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand where they will take on Colombia this morning.
A lot is at stake for the squad, with a lot of money on the line – but how does it compare to the men’s England team?
Each of the female players will be paid the exact same match fees as their male counterparts every time they represent England on the pitch. This is according to the Football Association (FA), who said in 2020 that all England players receive a match fee of around £2,000, which is usually donated to charity.
But while the England teams might get the same fees from the FA, recent research has shown there are still major disparities between the potential earnings that each squad has in tournaments like the World Cup, due to the difference in prize money paid by UEFA.
As well as this, the women’s team are currently involved in an ongoing dispute with the FA over bonuses, as the FA have decided not to offer bonus payments on top of the FIFA fees, despite offering sizeable ones for the men’s team last year.
Earlier in the tournament, England defender Lucy Bronze, who is optimistic about reaching an agreement, suggested she and her team-mates deserved more, particularly after their victory at last summer’s Euros led to a paradigm shift for women and girls’ football – from a 173 per cent uptick in Women’s Super League attendance to a surge in participation at the grassroots level. She said: “There’s constantly another level and another step you can take. Whether that’s commercially – or on or off the pitch. Whether that’s performance-based, it’s being rewarded for the things you have done.
“We are the European Champions. We have changed the game massively in England, so we want everything to fall in line. If we are going to do well on the pitch, then you would expect things to follow.” Despite the strides forward that the game has taken since the 2019 edition of the Women’s World Cup, the statistics are still troubling.
A study from Flashscore ahead of the 2023 tournament showed that the world’s highest-earning female players are still only making less than 1.2 per cent of the highest-earning male players. In the last four years, FIFA has increased the prize pot for the Women’s World Cup by 267 per cent from £23.6m in 2019 to £86.5 million for this year’s 32-team showdown.
A new pay structure also ensures every player at this year’s World Cup will get paid £24,000 for making it to the group stage, with England’s prize money currently sitting at £70,000 per player for making it through to the quarter-finals. That figure could rise to a possible £211,000 each if England wins the tournament. However, the total prize pot is still a lot less than the £346million assigned for the men’s tournament in Qatar in December.
The Lionesses also received less after winning the Euros last year, with the players receiving £55,000 each from the FA as a bonus, with manager Sarina Wiegman getting £200,000. These fees of around £1.3million were drastically less than the £5million bonus the men’s team were offered for the 2021 Euros. For the World Cup, the FA has decided not to pay players extra money on top of the funds dished out by FIFA, despite offering the men bonuses of around £400,000 each if the Three Lions had managed to go all the way and win the World Cup in 2022.
And when it comes to football salaries in general, there’s still a disparity between what professional men and women are paid. For instance, the average salary for women at Man City is thought to be £75,000 a year, which is where Lioness Chloe Kelly plays. In comparison, Erling Haaland is said to earn an annual average salary of £19,500,000 at Manchester City F.C.
Women’s World Cup 2023 prize money
- Group stage: $30,000
- Round of 16: $60,000
- Quarter-finals: $90,000
- Fourth place: $165,000
- Third place: $180,000
- Second place: $195,000
- Winners: $270,000
Men’s World Cup 2022 prize money
It’s not known exactly what all 23 of the Lionesses earn or are paid by their Women’s Super League teams, but many are thought to have a net worth of between £1 million and £5 million, from their salaries and sponsorship deals. Out of the lot, England midfielder Keira Walsh is said to be the wealthiest of the bunch.
She left Manchester City after eight years at the club for Barcelona with a world-record fee of £400,000, making her the most expensive female footballer in history. The 26-year-old smashed the previous record set by Chelsea, who splashed more than £250,000 on Danish star Pernille Harder in 2020.
Defender Lucy Bronze, 31, is thought to be one of the wealthiest members of the team, taking home roughly £200,000 each year as part of FC Barcelona. She’s also earned money through her time on the England team since 2013 and through her deals with Pepsi, EE, Klarna, and Visa.
Similarly, Man City forward Chloe Kelly has been in demand for deals after scoring the winning goal against Germany in the 2022 Euros. It was reported by The Mail on Sunday that she was set to sign a deal with Land Rover worth up to £2 million. A spokesperson for Chloe told the paper: “I can’t comment on her business dealings but… she is in demand.”
While Lauren James is thought to be one of the richest female football players in the world, with experts expecting her to become a “multi-millionaire” if England wins the Women’s World Cup. Thanks to her skills it is thought she will double her estimated £500,000 income from existing deals advertising big brands such as Nike, Sure deodorant, and the Google Pixel phone. But Prof Jonathan Shalit OBE believes her winning smile could see her net much more than just goals. He said “the world’s her oyster”, adding: “I think she will be a multi-millionaire whether we win the World Cup or not. But if we win she could be within a year.”
The team’s manager Sarina Wiegman earns around £400,000 a year, according to The Times. It is also reported that Sarina has a net worth of around £1million, likely amassed through her salary, sponsorship deals, and other earnings.
