The US women’s team will receive $6.5 million after the men’s team secured a place in the last-16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The figure will rise even more if they get into the quarter finals too.
Heading into the last round of matches in Group B, the USMNT had to beat Iran in order to seal their passage to the knockout rounds.
Chelsea star Christian Pulisic stepped up when his country needed him the most as he found the net in the 38th minute.
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That goal was enough as the US weathered a late storm by Iran to secure a last-16 clash against the Netherlands.
As a result of the success, the US will now receive at least $13 million for their achievement in the World Cup so far and the figure will only increase if they manage to defy the odds and make the quarter-finals.
Although the men’s team are the one producing the results, the women’s team will also benefit financially due to the USMNT’s success.
This is due to the fact that the women’s and men’s teams signed a new collective bargaining agreement in May which meant they pool together their World Cup prize pot and split it equally.
The agreement came in order to make sure both teams were given equal pay for their respective achievements.
Therefore, the women’s team will receive $6.5 million after Pulisic’s vital goal fired the men’s side into the next round of the tournament, with US Soccer set to take a 10% cut too.
The US women’s team have often been the team to beat in women's international football and they showed their qualities by winning the last two editions of the World Cup, in 2015 and 2019.
Megan Rapinoe is a major star in US women’s football and was named the winner of the Ballon d’Or Feminin in 2019, in 197 appearances for the USWNT, Rapinoe has scored 63 goals.
Rapinoe has been a long-time campaigner for equal pay and would have played a huge part in the new agreement between the men’s and women’s sides.
After the nail-biting encounter against Iran, US boss Gregg Berhalter spoke about his side’s performance and the nervous end to the match which saw Iran nearly scoring in the 99th minute.
He said: “Proud. First half we showed what we can do soccer-wise. Second half we showed what we could do determination-wise. The guys grinded. They gave every single ounce of energy. We are undefeated going into the knockout round.
“This new injury time, counting every second, it is stressful. I think I have less hair on my head now. We will take it and we will move on and we will go battle Holland.”
The US will now face the Netherlands on Saturday.
Topics: Football, USA, Football World Cup, Womens Football
Marcus Chan