The German national football team stands to receive a record bonus if they secure a fifth star by winning the World Cup this summer. DFB managing director Andreas Rettig revealed this on Tuesday evening (May 12, 2026) on the sidelines of an event in Düsseldorf. While Rettig emphasized that the German Football Association (DFB) would not disclose a specific figure, he stated: “If the team becomes world champion, there will be more than in Qatar, because significantly more money will come in. I don’t want to hide that.”
At the desert World Cup three and a half years ago, each national player would have received a bonus of 400,000 euros for winning the title. However, the four-time world champions were eliminated in the group stage, just as they were in Russia in 2018. For winning the home European Championship in 2024, the bonus would also have been 400,000 euros, while the 2014 World Cup winners collected 300,000 euros each.
A Little Extra for the Title
Rettig stressed that among all the issues leading up to the tournament, the bonus question is one of the least concerns for the players around captain Joshua Kimmich. “There are no tough negotiations,” he said. Instead, there is “total willingness to perform.” The team is so confident that the bonus “goes towards zero” if they are eliminated early. Instead, the message is: “We want to go for it later on, and if we become world champions, we get a little extra.”
Nevertheless, the matter is complicated. Prize money is paid out in dollars, and during conversion, “no one should lose out—neither the team nor the DFB.” Additionally, the tax issue is “a big problem.”
Puffer in the Bonus
There are also high costs in the USA, Mexico, and Canada. Rettig emphasized that the World Cup “will be a loss-making business for most teams that don’t reach the semifinals.” That’s why the DFB has built “a buffer into the bonus. We agree on the rough line—and then we see what comes out.” The underlying tenor in discussions with the team is: “Play football and make sure you win the title or achieve success—and then we won’t deduct anything from your salary.”
