Soccer fans are widely known to be the most passionate of all them all.
There’s always some sort of good vibes going around whenever there’s a match. Be it local or international.
The hosting cities receive a lot of visitors from far ends and the atmosphere is always cheerful.
Here’s a list of the biggest soccer tournaments you should be part of;
1. FIFA World Cup: Biggest Soccer Tournament In The World
The FIFA World Cup is the giant of all tournaments.
It attracts interest from all over the world and accommodates both women’s and men’s national teams.
The renowned international soccer tournament takes place in various countries across the world every 4 years. The FIFA Council carries out a vote to select one country.
It starts from the qualification phase, where participating teams from various countries, fairly compete against each other for a place at the 32-team tournament.
Due to its massive following, the World cup draws up to 1 billion viewers.
The prize money for the tournament isn’t constant. But for 2018, here’s the breakdown ;
| Position | Prize per team | Total fund |
| Group stage | $8m | $128m |
| Last 16 | $12m | $96m |
| Quarter-finals | $16m | $64m |
| Fourth place | $22m | $22m |
| Third place | $24m | $24m |
| Runners-up | $28m | $28m |
| Winners | $38m | $38m |
| TOTAL | – | $400m |
2. UEFA Champions League
When it comes to glamor, the EFA Champions League is considered the best in the football world.
As its name suggests, the tournament is a meet-up place for football clubs in Europe.
All the interested clubs, compete in several rounds to determine the winners. The clubs that head to the UEFA are the ones that emerge the best in various local leagues.
The tournament attracts fans from all over the world and its TV viewership is amazing. The 2018 tournament finals attracted over 200 million viewers.
Its operations are similar to those of FIFA World cup as 32 get to qualify for the competitive group stage.
The successful teams will then battle it out, like in world cup, to leave out two teams as the main contenders for the top price; finals.
The venue for the finals is usually predetermined after an agreement between the participating clubs and it has to be neutral.
The major difference between the UEFA league and the FIFA World Cup is that the latter takes every 4 years and UEFA annually.
Here’s a breakdown of the prize money;
| Base Fee For Group Stage | €15,250,000
|
| Group ||Match Victory | €2,700,000 |
| Group match Draw | €900,000 |
| Round of 16 | €9,500,000 |
| Quarter Finals | €10,500,000 |
| Semi Finals | €12,000,000 |
| Losing Finalist | €15,000,000 |
| Winning the final | €19,000,000 |
3. EUFA European Championship
Popularly referred to as the Euros, this championship is equated to the World cup.
Only that it’s exclusively for European teams, thus soccer fans consider it as the European version of the World cup.
It takes place every even-numbered years, in between the World Cup years.
And the equally highly valued tournament, allows a total of 24 teams (as from 2016) to compete towards bagging the much-coveted title to become the European champions.
Previously, only 16 teams were allowed to compete.
The playing format is similar to that of the World Cup. As teams have to battle out to secure a place in the top four teams, and eventually to the two finalists.
This 2016 championship final has 2 billion views on TV, with 600 Million tuned in for finals.
There’s a confirmation that in 2020, the prize money is expected to rise by 23% from Euro 2016. The winners are expected to stash €20.25 million in the form of profits from the gathering stage.
Here’s a breakdown of the 2018 prize money;
4. AFC Champions League
This is an annual championship league for the best Asian clubs.
There are usually 32 teams participating in this league, in which the winners get the opportunity to play in the FIFA world club as the representative of the AFC clubs.
The 32teams have to successfully qualify through the preliminaries and they must be members of the18 AFC member-countries.
The cash prize money for 2019 breakdown;
| Taking part | $4,800,000 among the 24 participating nations |
| Reaching the knockout stages | $1 million each |
| Two semi-finalists p | $6,800,000million |
| Runners-up | $3 million |
| Champions | $5 million |
| Grand total | $14,800,000 in cash prizes |
5. Copa America
This is one of the oldest football completion. Its history takes us back to 1916 when the 1st face-off was held in Argentina, as a way of commemorating its independence.
The 10 teams participating in this league usually belong to the CONMEBOL association (The South American Football Confederation).
They usually invite two non-member states, which are usually the USA, Mexico or Costa Rica.
In 2019, the finals between Brazil and Peru attracted 3.1 million viewers on Telemundo.
The 2020competitions will mark the 47th edition. And the prize money share has already been released.
| Qualified teams | $2 million (each team qualified for Copa America) |
| Quarterfinalist | $1.5 Million |
| 4th Place Team | $2 Million |
| 3rd Place Team | $3 Million |
| Runner-ups | $4 Million |
| Champions | $7 Million |
| Total Prize Money | $19.5 Million |
6. African Cup of Nations (AFCON)
The African Cup of Nations is the greatest football tournament in Africa and it has been used to place Africa in international ranks as far as soccer is concerned.
The tournaments call for a total of 24 teams from various countries across the continent, who will then battle off to emerge the finest.
However, Egypt seems to dominate the wins with a record of 7 wins, followed closely by Cameroon with 5 wind.
The 2019 competition was held in Egypt and it attracted over 90 million viewers on beIN SPORTS, in the finals.
The prize cash money for 2019 include;
| Quarter-finalists | $800,000 |
| Fourth place | $2m |
| Third place | $2m |
| Runners-up | $2.5m |
| Winners | $4.5m |
| Total | $14.2 m |
7. FA Cup
The list cannot be complete without a mention of the FA Cup.
Like Copa America, this tournament is the oldest in the world, having been traced way back to 1871.
The FA Cup gives equal opportunities for both small and big teams. With the big and famous teams being defeated by the smallest from time to time.
The participating teams include clubs from the English premier league and the least known of the FA National League.
Arsenal still enjoys the most successful reputation with a record of 13 victories so far.
It’s followed by Manchester United, while Manchester City is the current cup winners.
The 2019 winners bagged £3.6 million and the 2nd runners received £1.8 million
FAQ About The Biggest Soccer Tournaments
Which football tournament has the highest prize money?
The EUFA champions league at $ 1.3 billion in 2019
What is the biggest youth soccer tournament in the world?
The IberCup is the largest soccer tournament in the world.
It connects players with various youth soccer cups across Europe, ISA, and Asia.
How much money do EPL winners get?
In 2019, the winners received £38.4million, while the 1st runners-up bagged £36.5m.
Conclusion
The above list isn’t conclusive. There’re still many tournaments to add to the list.
And as such, it’s evident that soccer connects fans across the world.
From the UEFA championships, AFC league to AFCON, it’s all fun and merry for both the players and their fans.
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