The England players will receive huge payments if they beat Spain in the Women’s World Cup final this Sunday (20 August).
The Lionesses have made history by reaching their first Women’s World Cup final after winning the semi-final against Australia on Wednesday (16 August).
England beat the host nation 3-1 in Sydney. In case you missed the match, the first goal came in as Ella Toone scored a banger in the first half.
But the Matlidas equalised when their captain Sam Kerr sent in a strike from some 25 yards, causing tensions to rise for England fans on Wednesday morning.
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Sarina Wiegman’s team reclaimed the lead only eight minutes later, thanks to the speedy Lauren Hemp, before Alessia Russo totally secured the Lionesses spot in Sunday’s final.
After they beat Sweden 2-1 on Tuesday (15 August), Spain await England in the final showdown of this year’s Women’s World Cup.
The Lionesses, who won last year’s European Championship in an unforgettable unbeaten run, have become the first England senior team to get to a World Cup final since the men’s triumph all the way back in 1966.
And if they do go one further and win the tournament (fingers crossed), England’s squad could be set for huge bonuses.
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As reported by TalkSPORT, the Lionesses will each be granted £213,000 by FIFA should they reach victory in Sunday’s final.
The players had already been guaranteed to earn £24,000 even if they had been knocked out at the group stages.
But they powered through, and the prize money was raised to £47,000 when they qualified for the last-16.
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And then when the Lionesses made the last eight, up to £70,000.
Being in the semi-final has seen them earn £128,000 but they’re set to bag a further £85,000 if they do bring it home and win the World Cup.
In total for this year’s tournament, FIFA have put together a record-breaking prize pot of £86.25 million, which is available to all teams that have taken part.
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It’s divided among each of the 32 countries and dished out in different amounts at each round.
Previous Women’s World Cups have had nowhere near this kind of financial support.
Just four years ago, the prize total for all teams was £23.5 million, while four years before that the pot was half that size.
It’s worth pointing out that at the last men’s World Cup in Qatar last year, the prize fund stood at a whopping £345 million.
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But money aside, all we can do now is hope Sarina and the team smash the match on Sunday with those magical goals we’ve gotten so used to.
Come on Lionesses!
Jess Battison