What is the difference between the men's and women's World Cups?
FIFA’s men's and women's World Cups share a competitive format but differ due to historical timelines, prize money gaps, and the evolution of global sports.
Sylvie Vance
The primary differences between the FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Cups lie in their historical longevity, the total prize money pools, and the scale of investment, though both tournaments share the same foundational structure of qualification, group stages, and a knockout format. While the Men’s World Cup began in 1930 and the Women’s World Cup in 1991, recent years have seen a concerted effort to close the financial gap; for instance, while the 2023 Women's World Cup prize pool reached $150 million—a significant increase—it still trailed the $440 million purse awarded for the 2022 Men's World Cup ([ESPN, 2023](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38129076/equal-pay-explainer-uswnt-prize-money-women-world-cup)). Understanding these disparities is essential to evaluating the ongoing evolution of gender equity in professional sports and the commercial growth of global football.
### How do the tournament formats and qualification processes compare?
Both the men’s and women’s tournaments operate under the governance of FIFA and follow a highly similar competitive structure. Teams qualify through rigorous regional competitions organized by FIFA’s six continental confederations, leading to a final tournament that features a group stage followed by a knockout phase. The primary structural difference currently relates to the number of participating teams: the FIFA Men's World Cup is expanding to 48 teams starting in 2026, while the Women’s World Cup expanded to 32 teams in 2023, reflecting the growth and development of the women's game on the global stage ([NBC Los Angeles, 2023](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/womens-world-cup/what-are-the-differences-between-womens-and-mens-fifa-world-cups/3183885/)).
### Why is there a significant discrepancy in prize money?
The prize money gap is largely attributed to historical disparities in commercial revenue, media rights valuations, and sponsorship deals associated with each tournament. Because the Men’s World Cup has been played for over 90 years, it has built a massive, long-standing global broadcast market and commercial infrastructure. In contrast, the women's game is in a period of rapid commercial acceleration. FIFA has publicly committed to increasing the prize money for the women's game, with the 2023 prize pool representing a significant leap forward, aimed at narrowing the gap by reinvesting tournament revenues more directly into the participating teams and federations ([WWD, 2023](https://wwd.com/pop-culture/culture-news/fifa-world-cup-men-women-differences-1235754261/)).
### What is the historical context behind the two tournaments?
The Men's World Cup, established in 1930, has had nearly a century to cultivate a global cultural footprint, allowing it to become one of the most-watched sporting events in human history. The Women’s World Cup, which only held its inaugural tournament in 1991, is still in a phase of relative historical infancy. This chronological gap has resulted in different stages of institutional support, grassroots development, and fan base maturation. However, the surge in popularity of women’s football over the last decade has fundamentally altered the trajectory of the sport, forcing stakeholders to reconsider previous allocation models ([NBC Los Angeles, 2023](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/womens-world-cup/what-are-the-differences-between-womens-and-mens-fifa-world-cups/3183885/)).
### Key Takeaways
* **Structural Convergence:** Both tournaments utilize identical competitive formats, though the Men’s World Cup generally leads in the total number of participating nations.
* **Financial Evolution:** While a substantial gap in prize money remains, it is rapidly narrowing as commercial interest and sponsorship for the Women's World Cup reach record-breaking levels.
* **Developmental Lag:** The primary reason for historical differences is the discrepancy in the age of the tournaments, with the women's game benefiting from recent, aggressive efforts to professionalize and monetize the sport.
* **Future Outlook:** The trajectory of the women’s game suggests continued financial parity and expansion, with FIFA aiming to align conditions more closely across both tournaments in future cycles.
The difference between the men's and women's World Cups is, at its core, a reflection of the different historical timelines of both competitions and the evolving landscape of global sports economics. As broadcasting rights and sponsorship values continue to rise for women's football, the structural and financial discrepancies that once defined these events are being systematically dismantled. Observing this shift provides a clear window into how sports organizations are adapting to changing societal expectations regarding equality and value.
## References
* [ESPN (2023). USWNT, equal pay, and the Women's World Cup prize money](https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/38129076/equal-pay-explainer-uswnt-prize-money-women-world-cup)
* [NBC Los Angeles (2023). What are the differences between women's and men's FIFA World Cups?](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/sports/womens-world-cup/what-are-the-differences-between-womens-and-mens-fifa-world-cups/3183885/)
* [WWD (2023). The Differences Between the Men's and Women's FIFA World Cup](https://wwd.com/pop-culture/culture-news/fifa-world-cup-men-women-differences-1235754261/)
