Football

MBABANE -With no Eswatini team represented at the FIFA World Cup, domestic sides have officially missed out on a massive, guaranteed payout from world football’s governing body.

While World Cup qualification remains a distant dream for the Eswatini national team, Sihlangu, the country’s top-tier clubs theoretically still have a pathway to these millions through clever international signings. Nsingizini Hotspurs, for instance, boast the impressive Senzo ‘Mbhobho’ Ndlovu from South Africa’s AmaZulu. Yet, he will not be heading to the highly-anticipated International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) World Cup in North America, which kicks off next Thursday, June 11, 2026.

The financial cost of this absence is staggering when filtered through FIFA's lucrative Club Benefits Programme. Under this initiative, domestic teams are financially compensated for every single day their players are away on World Cup duty. For the 2026 showpiece, FIFA is paying clubs approximately $11000 to $15 000 (E198 000 to R270 000) per day for each released player.

Crucially, this daily rate runs far beyond actual match days. The official payout window spans from the start of the national team's preparatory training camp all the way through the tournament's group and knockout stages. It only concludes the exact day after a specific national team is eliminated or lifts the trophy.

Consequently, even if a country crashes out in the group stage, players typically accumulate about 23 to 25 days between camp and tournament play. This guarantees a massive baseline payout of roughly US$250 000 (E4.5 million) per player to their respective clubs.

However, a common misconception is that a player's current team secures 100 per cent of the windfall. FIFA actually distributes the total accumulated daily payout based on a strict two-year lookback window preceding the tournament. The cash is split into thirds based on registration history: One-third goes to the club the player is registered with during the World Cup. Another third goes to the club they represented during the preceding season, and the final to the club they were with two seasons prior.

Meanwhile, South African giants are laughing all the way to the bank. Hugo Broos’ final 26-man Bafana Bafana squad includes eight players from Orlando Pirates. This ties for the highest number of players sent to the 2026 tournament from any South African club, sharing the exact same honours with fierce rivals Mamelodi Sundowns, who also have eight players in the squad.

With no Eswatini team represented at the FIFA World Cup, domestic sides have officially missed out on a massive, guaranteed payout from world football’s governing body.