How much could Hearts and Hibs earn from stars at World Cup as pathway to £263m cash bonanza unlocked
There are a few Hearts and Hibs stars who will represent their countries at the World Cup.
Hearts and Hibs are set for financial windfalls this summer when players head off for the World Cup.
Steve Clarke’s Scotland jetted out from Glasgow Airport on Sunday after a friendly win over Curacao sent them on their way to America. They face Bolivia in a New Jersey friendly before matches against Haiti, Morocco and Brazil when the tournament action kicks off later this month.
There will also be eyes on other teams in the tournament for Hearts and Hibs fans while the Premiership pair are set to benefit financially from some of their players being at the tournament. Here’s how it all works.
What Hearts and Hibs stars are at the World Cup?
Hearts’ Craig Gordon will be with Scotland while Cammy Devlin has been named in the Australia side. When it comes to Hibs, Grant Hanley is the only one with the defender representing Scotland. Martin Boyle was a shock omission at the last moment from Australia contention and Ante Suto was also cut from the Socceroos group. Rocky Bushiri was named in the DR Congo squad but has missed out through injury.
Will Hearts and Hibs earn money for players at the World Cup?
Yes. Hearts and Hibs will earn cash through FIFA's Club Benefits Programme. The game’s global governing body rewards clubs who have stars taking part in major international tournaments through a share of revenues from the competition. That figure is at £263m for this summer's tournament as FIFA stated last year: “More clubs than ever are set to benefit from the FIFA World Cup™, as FIFA gears up to implement an enhanced edition of the FIFA Club Benefits Programme (CBP) for the 2026 edition of its flagship men’s competition.
“As per the renewed memorandum of understanding signed by FIFA and the European Club Association (ECA) in March 2023, clubs who release players for the FIFA World Cup 26™ will benefit from USD 355 million overall. For the first time since its inception, the CBP distribution principles have been adjusted to now allow every club whose players directly feature either in the FIFA World Cup 26™ qualifiers or the final tournament to receive a share of the solidarity fund. This new approach means that any club that releases a player for a FIFA World Cup 26 qualifier will now be directly compensated for said release, irrespective of whether the player plays at the final tournament, an additional step to increase solidarity aimed at providing a fairer and more inclusive redistribution across global club football.”
How much cash will Hearts make for players at the World Cup?
FIFA officially confirm final squads for the tournament on June 2. Gordon and Devlin are out of contract at Hearts but the club will still benefit. Clubs banked between £8k and £9k for every day a player was at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and it’s believed that fee will be higher this time around. It means Hearts could be looking at a minimum solidarity payment of around £200k each for Gordon and Devlin. That figure could have risen to the £750k had Lawrence Shankland remained at Hearts and not signed for Rangers, however, the Jambos will still get some money from the striker being at the World Cup before his Ibrox deal is made official on June 15.
Goalkeeper Liam McFarlane is also with the Scotland squad, but he isn’t in the squad and only listed as a training player, meaning he is unlikely to be part of the FIFA Club Benefits Programme. It would appear that with Australia’s final game as it stands being on June 26 against Paraguay, Hearts will make well in excess of £400k, as a minimum. That figure is likely to be larger and could increase depending on whether Australia and Scotland progress. Only the bottom sides in each group face certain elimination after the group stage.
How much will Hibs make for players at the World Cup?
Hibs could have been looking at in excess of £600k as a minimum had Hanley been joined at the World Cup by Bushiri and Boyle. That was the expectation but injury and a shock omission means that Hibs’ windfall has now been largely depleted. A minimum of around £200k will now be in place for them through Hanley but it could increase depending on Scotland’s progress.