Spain have added a second star to their nation's badge with a 1-0 extra-time win over Argentina in the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium.
After dominating Lionel Messi and co for the entire match and reducing them to only two shots in normal and extra time, it was Ferran Torres who scored his only goal of the tournament in the 106th minute to secure the trophy for La Rioja. Still, the financial reward for that historic achievement won't be quite as glittering as the trophy itself.
Luis de la Fuente's squad were set for a huge payday from the Royal Spanish Football Federation for their triumph, yet a significant chunk of that windfall was always destined to disappear before it reached their bank accounts.
Spain's Players Set for Six-Figure Bonus
Spain lift World Cup trophyREUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
According to Gestha (per The Mirror), the Spanish union representing Tax Agency experts, each member of the 26-man squad is in line for a gross payout of €754,701.92 (£640,500) for lifting the trophy.
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That figure stems from the agreement in place with the RFEF, under which players receive 45% of the roughly €44 million (£37.3m) FIFA awards the federation for winning the tournament, works out at around €19.8m (£16.8m) split among the squad, having reportedly only agreed to collect major bonuses upon reaching the latter stages.
Tax Bill Wipes Out Huge Portion of Spain's Reward
Spain lift 2026 World CupREUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
That headline figure shrinks considerably once income tax is applied. The 17 squad members playing their club football in Spain are subject to personal income tax rates that reach as high as 49.5%, depending on which of the country's Autonomous Communities they reside in, with rates in Madrid sitting around 45%, the Basque Country at 49%, and Catalonia ranging between 47% and 49.5%.
In the best-case scenario, a player based in Spain would take home around €385,000 (£327,000), a figure that drops to roughly €353,500 (£300,000) at the higher rate.
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Names affected include Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Gavi and Dani Olmo, as Spain's treasury stands to collect an estimated £5m from the squad's domestic-based players alone.
Those playing abroad, such as Golden Ball winner Rodri, David Raya, and Mikel Merino, face a different tax picture entirely, governed by residency rules and double taxation treaties in their respective countries, on top of taxes owed across the World Cup's host nations.
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Even so, the reward still dwarfs the roughly €600,000 (£503,000) handed to Spain's 2010 winning squad, but those players at the time didn't feel the swift hand of the taxman quite as badly, with top-end rates in Spain sitting at 43% 16 years ago.
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