Cymru’s pursuit of a place at next year’s World Cup could generate more than £10 million, with a significant portion earmarked for the development of grassroots football across the country.
That is the view of Football Association of Wales (FAW) chief executive Noel Mooney, who added that additional sponsorship bonuses could provide millions more to improve facilities nationwide.
Craig Bellamy’s side are just two wins away from securing their second successive World Cup appearance – only the third in the nation’s history. Cymru will host Bosnia-Herzegovina in their play-off semi-final on 26 March. A victory would set up a final in Cardiff five days later against either Italy or Northern Ireland, with a place at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico at stake.
The tournament draw took place in Washington DC on Friday, confirmed all teams’ potential group-stage opponents should they navigate the play-offs successfully.
Mooney said participation alone is worth around $10.5 million (£7.9m) to Cymru, although travel costs and player and staff payments reduce that figure to approximately $4 million (£3m).
He added: “Also you’re looking at sponsorship bonuses and the interest around the association grows around that. You have sponsorships that have specified amounts that come to us.
“We’ve seen progress [in grassroots facilities] but there’s a lot more to be done so should we get to the World Cup you’re looking at $3m or $4m that goes towards the grassroots game.”
Tackling “Third World” Facilities
Improving grassroots football has been a long-standing priority for the FAW. Mooney has previously described the nation’s public facilities as “Third World”.
Since the launch of the Cymru Football Foundation in October 2022, the FAW has invested £26 million in projects across the country, yet Mooney stresses that this is only “scratching the surface”.
He said: “The last time [Cymru qualified in 2022] was great for Welsh football. We took €4m (£3.5m) that we made from the World Cup and our reserves and we put it into the Cymru Football Foundation which many clubs – 200 across Wales – have benefited already from, building pitches and dressing rooms and so on.
“So the last World Cup was a catalyst to what ended up being £26m that we’ve ended up distributing with help from DCMS [Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport], Welsh Government and local authorities and the clubs themselves.
“Now it’s clear, as we’ve discussed in a 10-year plan we’re working on, facilities at grassroots level remains a huge issue for Cymru. It’s one that we have obviously shown we’re determined to tackle.
“We’re about to give out another tranche of a few million pounds very soon but it’s a long way to go. We’re still scratching the surface of that.”
Looking Beyond 2026
The FAW also stands to benefit from further windfalls when Cymru co-hosts Euro 2028 and the 2035 Women’s World Cup.
Mooney said: “If you look at hosting Euro 2028, with the way it’s set up with two reserve places, we fully expect to be playing in the tournament, kicking off here in Cardiff.
“That on its own has a revenue which brings about €10m (£8.75m) from a participation perspective, but there’s also a hosting bonus, which is a few million pounds.
“We’ve absolutely no doubt that could be worth £7-8m net to the FAW.
“Similarly with the Women’s World Cup, even though at the moment the prize money and hosting bonuses are not near the men’s yet, by 2035 our best guess would be that’s getting much closer because the women’s game is on such a growth trajectory.
“So by then we expect to be in a good profit for the association for the women’s game.”
