Bafana's run to the Round of 32 triggered FIFA Club Benefits payments to the clubs that released the squad. Here is the full breakdown across all 16 Betway Premiership clubs, calculated from FIFA's own published rate — and why the R56 million figure reported for Orlando Pirates is roughly double what the fund can pay.
Last updated: 2026-07-27.
Last updated: July 2026. Figures calculated 27 July 2026 from FIFA's published rate. FIFA confirms final per-club amounts after the tournament — we will update when it does.
Nineteen of Bafana Bafana's 26-man World Cup squad were registered at Betway Premiership clubs, and those clubs are owed roughly R59.8 million between them. Two clubs — Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns — account for R50.4 million of it. Eleven of the sixteen clubs in the league earned nothing from the final-tournament pot.
You will have seen a much bigger number than that. Several South African outlets reported that Orlando Pirates alone would bank R56.15 million. That figure is roughly double what FIFA's own published rate produces, and — as we show below — it is arithmetically impossible against the size of the fund. Here is the full 16-club breakdown, the method, and the check anyone can repeat.
The Club Benefits Programme compensates clubs for releasing players to national teams. It has nothing to do with how a player performs: payment follows squad inclusion and days released, not minutes, goals or results.
From FIFA's own media release of 5 June 2026:
| Element | FIFA's published figure |
|---|---|
| Total programme | USD 355 million (up ~70% on 2022) |
| Reserved for qualifiers | USD 100 million |
| Qualifier rate | ~USD 2,360 per player, per match (905 qualifying matches) |
| For the final tournament | USD 250 million |
| Final-tournament rate | ~USD 5,000 per player, per day (minimum expected) |
| Eligibility | Club the player was registered with at the time of release |
| Final amounts | Confirmed by FIFA after the tournament |
Two separate pots, then, with two different formulas. Everything below concerns the USD 250 million final-tournament pot, which is what Bafana's campaign triggered.
The release window ran from 25 May 2026 to the day South Africa were eliminated.
That gives a release period of 25 May to 28 June — 34 player-days.
34 days × USD 5,000 per player, per day = USD 170,000 per player ≈ R3.15 million at R18.50 to the dollar.
Every player in the squad earns his club the same amount, whether he started every match or never left the bench.
| # | Club | Players in the squad | Final-tournament benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mamelodi Sundowns | 8 | ~R25.2m (USD 1.36m) |
| 2 | Orlando Pirates | 8 | ~R25.2m (USD 1.36m) |
| 3 | Kaizer Chiefs | 1 | ~R3.15m (USD 170,000) |
| 4 | Siwelele FC | 1 | ~R3.15m (USD 170,000) — see note |
| 5 | Polokwane City | 1 | ~R3.15m (USD 170,000) |
| 6 | AmaZulu FC | 0 | — |
| 7 | Chippa United | 0 | — |
| 8 | Durban City | 0 | — |
| 9 | Golden Arrows | 0 | — |
| 10 | Kruger United | 0 | — |
| 11 | Marumo Gallants | 0 | — |
| 12 | Milford FC | 0 | — |
| 13 | Richards Bay FC | 0 | — |
| 14 | Sekhukhune United | 0 | — |
| 15 | Stellenbosch FC | 0 | — |
| 16 | TS Galaxy | 0 | — |
| Betway Premiership total | 19 | ~R59.8m (USD 3.23m) |
Who the players are. Orlando Pirates released Sipho Chaine, Nkosinathi Sibisi, Kamogelo Sebelebele, Thalente Mbatha, Oswin Appollis, Relebohile Mofokeng, Evidence Makgopa and Tshepang Moremi. Mamelodi Sundowns matched them with Ronwen Williams, Khulumani Ndamane, Khuliso Mudau, Aubrey Modiba, Teboho Mokoena, Jayden Adams, Themba Zwane and Iqraam Rayners. Kaizer Chiefs' single representative was Bradley Cross, Polokwane City's was Thabang Matuludi, and Siwelele FC's was Ricardo Goss.
Note on Siwelele. Goss's benefit may be paid to parent club Mamelodi Sundowns rather than Siwelele, depending on how the registration reads on FIFA's platform. FIFA's rule is that only the club a player was registered with during the release period is eligible. Until FIFA publishes final allocations, treat this R3.15m as contested between the two clubs.
The other seven squad members were at overseas clubs, each earning the same USD 170,000: Burnley (Lyle Foster), Hannover 96 (Ime Okon), Molde (Samukele Kubini), Philadelphia Union (Olwethu Makhanya), Chicago Fire (Mbekezeli Mbokazi), Tondela (Sphephelo Sithole) and AEL Limassol (Thapelo Maseko). Across all 26 players the campaign generated about R81.8 million for club football.
The widely-circulated R56.15 million for Orlando Pirates implies R7.02 million per player over the same 34 days — about R206,000 per player, per day, or roughly USD 11,150. That is more than double FIFA's published ~USD 5,000.
The assumption is traceable: at least one outlet stated openly that the programme would pay "around R200,000 per player for each day". Every downstream figure inherited it.
Two checks show the rate cannot be right.
1. It doesn't fit inside the fund. The final-tournament pot is fixed at USD 250 million. At USD 11,150 per player-day, that pot buys only about 22,400 player-days in total. The 2026 World Cup had 48 teams with 26-man squads — about 1,248 players — which works out to roughly 18 days each. But Bafana's own players were released for 34 days, and they went out in the Round of 32, three weeks before the final. The teams that went deeper were released for longer still. The rate is impossible before you have even counted the knockout rounds.
At FIFA's ~USD 5,000, the same arithmetic gives about 50,000 player-days — roughly 40 days per player across 1,248 players, which is the right order of magnitude for a tournament with a 25 May release date and a 19 July final.
2. It breaks the global ranking. The Athletic's post-tournament estimate put Manchester City top of the world list at about USD 4.4 million from 19 players — roughly USD 232,000 per player, and City's players were spread across squads that ran deep into a tournament won by Spain on 19 July. If Pirates' eight players were each worth USD 379,000, Pirates would have out-earned the global leader on a per-player basis while going home on 28 June. Under a per-player-per-day formula that cannot happen.
The estimate consistent with both FIFA's rate and the global table is the lower one: Soccer Laduma, citing analysis by Cash N Sport, put Pirates and Sundowns at USD 1.36 million (R25.2 million) each — and its later report on the final global rankings has both clubs at about USD 1.4 million.
On the R6.4 million figure for Kaizer Chiefs. That number also circulated, and it comes from the same inflated rate — but as a per-player figure for the group stage, not a club total. Chiefs released one player. At FIFA's published rate their benefit is about R3.15 million.
The eleven clubs showing no benefit above earned nothing from the final-tournament pot, because they had nobody in the 26-man squad. That is not the same as earning nothing from the programme.
A separate USD 100 million is reserved for clubs that released players for World Cup qualifiers, paid at roughly USD 2,360 per player, per match across 905 qualifying matches. Eligibility runs to whichever club held the player's registration during each qualifying release — so a club that developed and fielded a Bafana squad member during qualification can be owed money even if that player has since moved on, and even if the club had nobody at the finals. Orlando Pirates, for instance, are reported to be due further money through players including Thapelo Xoki, Sipho Mbule, Patrick Maswanganyi and Zakhele Lepasa.
FIFA has not published per-club qualifier allocations, and we are not going to estimate them: doing it properly needs each player's registration history matched to each of South Africa's qualifying matches, which is not public. When FIFA publishes, we will add the column.
So read the table above as what it says — the final-tournament pot — and treat the qualifier pot as genuinely unknown per club.
Two clubs took 84% of the Betway Premiership's share. Sundowns and Pirates each banked roughly the equivalent of a mid-sized transfer budget for doing nothing beyond what they already do: developing players good enough for the national team, then releasing them.
That is worth holding onto when you read the 2026/27 season. The two clubs already best resourced in the league received an unbudgeted windfall that no rival could match, and it arrived in the same close season. For anyone following the league's competitive balance, the gap between the top two and the rest just got a cash injection.
Related reference data: our PSL goals-per-game record and the promoted-teams survival record.
Every figure here is an estimate built from a published rate, not a confirmed payment. FIFA pays through member associations, and amounts are subject to tax. We will replace the estimates with confirmed numbers when FIFA publishes them.
How much did Orlando Pirates get from FIFA for the 2026 World Cup? About R25.2 million (USD 1.36 million) from the final-tournament pot, for releasing eight players for 34 days. Higher figures of R51–56 million circulated widely, but they rest on a per-day rate roughly double the ~USD 5,000 FIFA published, and that rate does not fit inside the USD 250 million fund.
How much did Kaizer Chiefs get? About R3.15 million (USD 170,000), for one player — Bradley Cross. The R6.4 million figure that circulated was a per-player estimate under an inflated daily rate, not a club total.
How does the FIFA Club Benefits Programme work? FIFA sets aside a fixed pot — USD 355 million for 2026 — and pays clubs for releasing players to national teams. USD 250 million covers the final tournament on a per-player, per-day basis; USD 100 million covers qualifiers on a per-player, per-match basis. Payment depends on squad inclusion and days released, never on minutes played or results.
Which PSL clubs earned money from the 2026 World Cup? Five of the sixteen Betway Premiership clubs had players in the squad: Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates (eight each), plus Kaizer Chiefs, Polokwane City and Siwelele FC with one each. The other eleven earned nothing from the final-tournament pot, though some may still be owed qualifier money.
Do clubs get paid more if their players actually play? No. The formula counts days in the squad, not minutes on the pitch. A player who sat on the bench for the whole tournament earns his club exactly what the captain earns.
When will the clubs actually be paid? FIFA confirms final per-club amounts after the tournament and distributes funds through member associations, with an online registration and validation step. Payments were expected before the end of 2026, subject to applicable tax.
Why do published figures for the same club differ so much? Because outlets used different assumed daily rates. Estimates built on FIFA's own ~USD 5,000 per player, per day cluster around R25 million for Pirates; those built on an assumed ~R200,000 per day reach R51–56 million. Only the first is consistent with the size of the fund and with the global club rankings.
Figures are estimates calculated from FIFA's published rates, not confirmed payments, and are correct at time of writing. This page is reference data, free to cite with attribution — please credit and link to this page. Corrections and additional primary sources are welcome via our contact page.
More reference data: the goals-per-game record, the promoted-teams record, or PSL statistics by season.