How much Aston Villa, Wolves & Leeds will earn as £175m dished out to clubs with World Cup stars

Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leeds United are all set to receive a healthy pay packet as a reward for providing players for the FIFA World Cup. The two West Midlands clubs and Premier League bottom half rivals Leeds all have plenty of representatives in Qatar - with a combined 13 currently over in the Middle East.

The competition is already well underway with the final set of group stage matches set to be played this week. Heading into the final round of qualification fixtures, Qatar and Canada have already been knocked out with two defeats, whereas France, Brazil and Portugal have all progressed with back-to-back victories.

As is the nature of having a World Cup at such an unusual time of the year - right in the middle of the season - clubs will be praying that their players return from the tournament unscathed. There is more than half of the Premier League campaign still to go and so it is an anxious time for teams watching on.

There is, however, a big financial boost that should distract from the concerns. As part of FIFA’s Club Benefits Programme, clubs will receive $10,000 (£8,316) per player per day while the said player is still at the World Cup. As a result, FIFA will be paying out a whopping £173 million.

In a statement before the tournament, FIFA said: “As part of its commitment to recognise the contribution that football clubs make to the successful staging of the FIFA World Cup, FIFA started the application process for its Club Benefits Programme that will see USD 209 million distributed to clubs across the world.”

How much will Aston Villa receive from the FIFA payments?

Villa have four players at the World Cup, meaning they will be due $40,000 (£33,281) per day while all of those players are still competing. They are entitled to money for the week-long period of preparation before the World Cup commenced in addition to the group stages which last for eight to nine days.

Based on 15 days, including seven for the preparation and eight for the group stage, Villa should earn at least £499,215 - and that’s if none of their players progress. As it stands, Emiliano Martinez’s chances with Argentina are in the balance and Leander Dendoncker (Belgium) looks set for an early exit.

Meanwhile, Matty Cash and Jan Bednarek (both Poland) are top of Group C and are likely to qualify. Martinez’s Argentina could scupper their chances, though, as the three Villans all face one another in the final group stage match.

How much will Wolves receive from the FIFA payments?

The Wanderers have five players at the World Cup, meaning they will be due $50,000 (£41,602) per day while they are all still in Qatar. Based on 15 days, including seven for the training period and eight for the group stage, Wolves should earn at least £624,030.

Portuguese trio Jose Sa, Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes have already qualified for the round of 16 and they will top Group H with a point vs South Korea. If that is indeed the case, their round of 16 tie will be played on December 6 - earning a further four days. This adds £99,880 to Wolves’ earnings, making a total of at least £723,910.

If either of the other two players progress, then the total will get even higher. As it stands at the time of writing, though, Raul Jimenez (Mexico) looks down and out in Group C, whereas Hwang Hee-Chan (South Korea) seems likely to suffer a similar fate in Group H.

How much will Leeds United receive from the FIFA payments?

The Lilywhites have four players at the World Cup, the same as Villa, meaning they will be due $40,000 (£33,281) per day while they are still competing. Based on 15 days, including seven for the preparation and eight for the group stage, Leeds should earn at least £499,215 - and that’s if none of their players progress.

On the date of publication, Ramsus Kristensen (Denmark) is a defeat against Australia away from being knocked out, but could still squeeze through with a victory. American duo Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson need to win against Iran and hope Wales lose to England in order to make the round of 16.

Meanwhile, Daniel James (Wales) is in need of a miracle against the Three Lions to get out of Group B. Realistically, Denmark and USA could both get through and if they do, Leeds could earn roughly another four days’ worth of money per player from FIFA.

Say the three were to get out the group but be knocked out in the round of 16 (with an average of four extra days applied), Leeds would earn an extra £99,880 - taking the total to £599,095.