FIFA outlines 2026 youth tournament schedule as women’s World Cup prize money set to rise

FIFA has published the match schedule for the 2026 Under-15 World Cup and Festival, while the organisation is also planning a major increase in prize money for next year’s Women’s World Cup, according to separate reports from FIFA and Sky News. The FIFA Digital Hub report identifies the publication of the U-15 World Cup and Festival schedule. The supplied material does not include the locations, participating teams, dates of individual matches or the tournament format, so those details cannot be established from the schedule listing provided.

The youth event is described by FIFA as an Under-15 World Cup and Festival. Its inclusion of a festival alongside the competition indicates that the 2026 programme contains more than a match schedule, although the available report does not explain the festival’s activities or how they will be organised. Separately, Sky News reported that FIFA plans to double the prize money for next year’s Women’s World Cup.

The report attributes the information to sources familiar with the plans, saying the proposed increase would not fulfil FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s ambition of matching the money paid at the men’s tournament. The distinction is important: doubling the women’s prize fund would increase the amount awarded at the tournament, but the available report says it would not remove the financial gap between the women’s and men’s competitions. Sky News did not provide the total sum or the amount each team would receive in the supplied material.

The two developments concern different parts of FIFA’s international calendar. One is the publication of a schedule for a youth competition and associated festival; the other is a reported financial decision affecting the senior Women’s World Cup. No direct connection between the schedule announcement and the prize-money plan is given in the reports.

The wording around the women’s tournament also leaves some uncertainty. Sky News says FIFA “plans” to double the prize money and that it has learnt the increase will not match the men’s tournament. The report does not say whether the final figure has been formally approved, when FIFA will announce it or how the money will be distributed among participating nations.

Likewise, the supplied FIFA item confirms that a 2026 schedule exists but offers no sporting results or fixture details. It therefore establishes an administrative milestone rather than a tournament development involving teams, scores or qualification. Taken together, the reports point to two FIFA announcements with different implications: a published framework for an Under-15 global event and a proposed expansion of financial rewards for the women’s senior World Cup.

The available information supports the scale and direction of the prize-money change, but not its final value, while the youth schedule’s content remains unspecified beyond its title.