Coventry City are set to receive a financial boost from FIFA’s enormous £263 million Club Benefits Programme, thanks to the involvement of two of their players in the upcoming FIFA World Cup. The Sky Blues will benefit from the participation of forward Haji Wright, who has been selected for the United States national team, and striker Brandon Thomas-Asante, who will represent Ghana at the prestigious tournament this summer.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, is expected to be the biggest edition in the competition’s history, featuring an expanded 48-team format for the very first time. In recognition of the role clubs play in developing and releasing players for international duty, FIFA has allocated a massive $355 million (£263 million) as part of its Club Benefits Programme. This fund is designed to compensate clubs whose players participate in the tournament.
Although the exact amount Coventry City will receive has not yet been confirmed, clubs earned around $10,950 (£8,100) per player, per day during the previous World Cup cycle. Payments are calculated from the moment a player is officially released by his club — usually around 10 days before the tournament begins — until the date his national team is eliminated from the competition.
For Coventry City, this means both Wright and Thomas-Asante could potentially generate a healthy return for the club, especially if their nations progress deep into the tournament. If a team were to reach the World Cup final, FIFA estimates suggest clubs could receive as much as $525,600 (£390,000) for a single player’s participation.
Haji Wright’s United States side have been drawn in Group D, where they will face Paraguay, Australia, and Turkey. The Americans are scheduled to kick off their campaign on June 12. Meanwhile, Brandon Thomas-Asante’s Ghana team have been placed in Group L alongside England, Croatia, and Panama, with their first group-stage fixture set for June 17.
Coventry City narrowly missed out on receiving even more compensation, as several other players connected to the club saw their countries fail to qualify for the tournament. Jay Dasilva’s Wales, Frank Onyeka’s Nigeria, and the Jamaican duo of Joel Latibeaudiere and Ephron Mason-Clark all fell short during the qualification stages.
However, FIFA’s revised compensation model could still work in Coventry’s favour. FIFA president Gianni Infantino revealed last year that the governing body has expanded the Club Benefits Programme to include payments linked to World Cup qualifying matches as well. This means clubs are now recognised financially not only for releasing players to the final tournament but also for their involvement throughout the qualification process.
Speaking on Instagram, Infantino explained that the enhanced programme acknowledges “the huge contribution that so many clubs and their players around the world make to the staging of both the qualifiers and the final tournament.”
As a result, Coventry City could still receive additional compensation for releasing players such as Latibeaudiere, Mason-Clark, and Dasilva during qualification campaigns last season.
The expanded World Cup tournament is set to begin on June 11 and conclude with the final on July 19, promising over a month of football action across North America. For Coventry City, the tournament represents not only pride in seeing their players compete on the world stage, but also an important financial opportunity that could provide extra support during the club’s summer transfer window and preparations for the new season.
