As the biggest World Cup in history draws to a close, FIFA emerges as the winner

The biggest and most daring World Cup in history came to a close on Sunday, with Spain defeating Argentina 1-0 in extra time to claim international football’s biggest prize.

Barcelona forward Ferran Torres scored the only goal in what was ultimately a disappointing final, with Argentina reduced to 10 men after Enzo Fernandes received a second yellow card for a foul on Spanish defender Pau Kvarsi, sealing Spain’s second World Cup victory.

Madonna, Justin Bieber, BTS and Shakira also appeared at the first halftime show in World Cup history, but the intermission lasted more than 27 minutes, drawing criticism from commentators and fans.

But behind the scenes, it was always certain that FIFA would emerge as the financial winner of the tournament. World soccer’s governing body presides over the most lucrative sporting event in history, poised to generate more than $9 billion in revenue by 2026, according to its own estimates.

This is the first time that 48 teams have competed on the world stage, up from 32 teams four years ago. This means 104 games will be played instead of 64 and scheduled over six weeks instead of four. The addition of games means more content will be sold to broadcasters, more tickets will be issued to fans, more commercial opportunities for advertisers and a larger global audience.

President Gianni Infantino is the driving force behind FIFA’s ruthless commercialization drive. CNBC investigates how FIFA is monetizing the World Cup like never before.

North America seemed like the perfect sandbox to try out the 48-team system, but its operation was not without controversy. The organization drew criticism over ticket prices ranging from $60 to more than $10,000, with a median admission price of more than $900, according to TicketData.

Leading up to the tournament, there were question marks over whether affordability and fan demand could be maintained. Despite these concerns, demand has surprisingly rebounded, according to analytics provider Football Benchmark.

Football Benchmark advisory director Antonio Di Cianni told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday: “In the group stage, the stadium was basically full, with 99% occupancy.” “We’ve shown that people are willing to pay those prices.”

Buoyed by strong ticket sales, Infantino has already begun to float the idea of ​​expanding to 64 teams in 2030.

“These are all issues that we will consider after the World Cup,” he told Swiss broadcaster BlueSport on July 10.

If implemented, the 64-team World Cup would see almost a third of the countries eligible to take part in the tournament, making the sport more inclusive, according to Kieran Maguire, associate professor of football finance at the University of Liverpool.

“This is an opportunity for the World Cup to become the Olympics of soccer in the sense that it opens up to more countries,” he told CNBC by phone.

“The medals may be concentrated in the hands of a few people, but there are others who can say they took part.”

President Donald Trump is deeply involved in the event, which the United States co-hosts with Mexico and Canada.

He has close ties to Infantino’s FIFA, which awarded him his first Peace Prize after President Trump fiercely pursued but failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure, made public last week, revealed that Infantino gave him 10 tickets worth $15,000 to the FIFA Club World Cup finals at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last July.

The relationship between the two men gained further attention after it was revealed that President Trump called Infantino to ask him to reconsider the one-game suspension issued to USMNT player Folarin Balogun after receiving a red card against Belgium, which was later rescinded.

President Trump said, “I didn’t think it was a foul, so I asked for a reconsideration.” “I had no idea what a red card was.”

Even away from the White House, Infantino’s expansion strategy will prove popular in many countries that receive funding from the organization. As a non-profit organization, its funds are redistributed to build football infrastructure in those countries, creating a circular relationship between FIFA and its underlying participants.

Under FIFA Forward 4.0, the FIFA plans to spend $2.7 billion on development between 2027 and 2030 among its 211 member countries.

“FIFA, under Infantino, is giving a lot of money to small countries, and small countries are voting for him to be re-elected as president,” Maguire added.

Looking ahead, the 2030 tournament is expected to be even bigger, with FIFA securing a budget of $6 billion. A celebration was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the tournament, which the federation described as “an even more attractive event for broadcasters.”

—CNBC’s Luke Fountain and Hugh Leask also contributed to this report.