WikiCup & international prize money
Cup and international competitions aren't just prestige but plannable sources of income: with each round the prize money rises noticeably – and internationally even the loser earns from every match.
National cup: prize per round
Both teams of a cup tie get paid – the winner considerably more. The amount depends on how many rounds remain until the final:
| Round | Winner | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 128 | 50,000 | 25,000 |
| Round of 64 | 75,000 | 50,000 |
| Round of 32 | 100,000 | 75,000 |
| Round of 16 | 150,000 | 100,000 |
| Quarter-final | 200,000 | 150,000 |
| Semi-final | 250,000 | 200,000 |
| Final | 300,000 | 250,000 |
Depending on the size of the cup, the competition starts at a later row – it's always counted backwards from the final.
Byes
In many cups not all teams play in the first round – some enter in the next round so the participant count fits the knockout format. Which teams get a bye is decided by draw.
The national cup winner qualifies for the international Kings Cup of the following season (if already qualified elsewhere, the finalist or the league table moves up). A cup run pays off twice.
International competitions: every match pays
Each confederation has three international competitions: the Champions Cup (champions & top finishers), the confederation cup (e.g. the Europa Pokal – the next league positions) and the Kings Cup (the national cup winners). Here every single match pays a prize – even a defeat:
- Defeat: the plain base prize
- Draw: 1.5× the base prize
- Win: 2.5× the base prize
| Competition | Qualification | Group stage | Knockout rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champions Cup | 300,000 | 800,000 | 600,000 × round level |
| Confederation cup | 150,000 | 500,000 | 300,000 × round level |
| Kings Cup | 100,000 | – | 80,000 (every round) |
All values are base prizes per match (×1.5 for a draw, ×2.5 for a win). In the knockout rounds of the Champions Cup and confederation cup the round level rises by 1 with every round – the final pays the most. One example: a group-stage win in the Champions Cup brings 2 million; a win in the final a multiple of that.
The full amounts apply to the European competitions; in the other confederations (Africa, Asia, North/South America, Oceania) the prizes are 60% of that.
How do I get in?
Starting spots are awarded by your league position: the best teams qualify for the Champions Cup, the next ones for the confederation cup (directly or via qualification) – and the cup winner for the Kings Cup. How many spots your country gets is decided by the five-year ranking (see below for the exact math).
A good cup draw can carry a season financially – and an international group stage is a windfall that funds entire squad rebuilds. Set up deliberately for these matches: internationally, even a draw against a favourite pays very handsomely.
Five-year ranking & qualification spots
How many international spots a country gets is decided by the five-year ranking: the country ranking built from the international results of the last five seasons. Here is how it works:
Step 1 – collecting points: with every international match, each club earns points for its country:
| Event | Champions Cup | Confederation cup | Kings Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 2 | 1 | 0.25 |
| Draw | 1 | 0.5 | 0.25 |
| Knockout round survived (bonus) | +1 | +0.5 | +0.25 |
| Winning the title (extra bonus) | +2 | +1 | – |
| Qualification round survived | +0.25 | +0.25 | +0.25 |
In the qualification rounds only advancing counts – individual wins or draws earn no points there.
Step 2 – building the coefficient: all points a country collected over the last five seasons are added up and divided by its number of starters – every club participation per season counts, qualification included. This division keeps things fair: a country with many spots has to deliver, otherwise every early exit drags down its average.
Step 3 – ranking & spots: per confederation, countries are sorted by their coefficient; the position determines the spot package for Champions Cup, confederation cup and qualification in the new season. Countries without international points line up behind them by the average strength of their first division – which is also the tiebreaker.
The full screen with all coefficients and qualification tiers lives in the app's competitions area.
Formats & qualification by confederation
All three competitions follow the same pattern in every confederation – only the size depends on the confederation:
- Qualification: one round, home and away; the winner enters the main competition. Losers of Champions Cup qualifying continue in the confederation cup, losers of confederation cup qualifying in the Kings Cup. Only in Kings Cup qualifying does elimination end the campaign.
- Champions Cup & confederation cup: groups of four, home and away; the top two of each group reach the knockout stage.
- Kings Cup: straight knockout over two legs, the final is a single match.
| Confederation | Champions Cup | Confederation cup | Kings Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe, Africa | 64 teams (16 groups) | 64 teams (16 groups) | 128 teams |
| Asia | 64 (16 groups) | 64 (16 groups) | 64 |
| North America | 32 (8 groups) | 32 (8 groups) | 64 |
| South America, Oceania | 16 (4 groups) | 32 (8 groups) | 32 |
Outside Europe, international football is only played in the full worlds (World 1 and World 4); in World 4 the international competitions start with season 2.
South America and Oceania now play much bigger tournaments: a Champions Cup with 4 instead of 2 groups, a confederation cup with 8 instead of 4 groups, a Kings Cup with 32 instead of 16 teams (one more round) – and the qualifying rounds have many times more ties. In World 1 this applies from season 76, in World 4 from the very start. Nobody lost a spot, spots were only added.
South America: spots by league size. In South America the spot package depends on the size of the first division (18 clubs or more counts as "big"), not on the five-year ranking:
| Spot | Big league (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile) | Small league (10 clubs) |
|---|---|---|
| Champions Cup directly | Place 1 | Place 1 |
| Champions Cup qualifying | Places 2–4 | – |
| Confederation cup directly | Places 5–6 | Place 2 |
| Confederation cup qualifying | Places 7–9 | Places 3–4 |
| Kings Cup qualifying | Places 10–11 | Places 5–6 |
Oceania: spots by five-year ranking. In Oceania every country has a 10-club league; here the country's position in the five-year ranking decides:
| Spot | Rank 1–6 | Rank 7–12 | Rank 13 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Champions Cup directly | Place 1 | Place 1 | Place 1 |
| Champions Cup qualifying | Place 2 | – | – |
| Confederation cup directly | Place 3 | Place 2 | Place 2 |
| Confederation cup qualifying | Places 4–6 | Places 3–4 | Places 3–4 |
| Kings Cup qualifying | – | Place 5 | – |
In both confederations each country's cup winner additionally enters the Kings Cup directly. The coloured markers in the league table always show you which league position currently leads where.