Taeguk Warriors can expect hefty cash rewards regardless of results

The Korean national team trains at the Al Egla training center in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday. [NEWS1]

The Taeguk Warriors will go home with significant cash even if they don’t win against Brazil in their first match in the round of 16, as the Qatar World Cup is reportrd to be giving out record amounts of prize money overall.

The Qatar World Cup is one of many firsts: the first World Cup held in the Middle East and the first to be held during the winter. It’s also breaking records in terms of its scale and prize money. The total dividend for this tournament is 570 billion won ($440 million), the highest among all previous World Cups.

Korea, which has climbed up to the round of 16 for the first time since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, will subsequently receive a hefty bonus. The total prize money of 570 billion won will be distributed to the teams according to FIFA regulations. The 32 countries that advanced to the Group Stage each receive 1.9 billion won by default.

Dividends vary according to the teams' performance. The 16 countries eliminated from the group stage will receive another 11.7 billion won, and the other 16 that advance to the next round receive 16.9 billion won. From there, the dividends continue to grow. Countries advancing to the quarterfinals will earn 22.1 billion won, with 32.6 billion won for fourth place and 35.2 billion won for third place.

In the final stage, the runner-up will receive 39.1 billion won and the overall winner will grab 54.8 billion won.

The Taeguk Warriors, then, who advanced to the round of 16 from Group H, have secured a total of 18.8 billion won from the default 1.9 billion won and the bonus of 16.9 billion won from advancing.

Additionally, the Korea Football Association will pay 20 million won to all 26 players on the national team for advancing to the Group Stage of the World Cup. Since the Taeguk Warriors advanced to the round of 16, each player will earn another 100 million won. The Korea Football Association has put up a 200-million-won reward for advancing to the quarterfinals.

Since Korea recorded one win, one draw and one loss in the Group Stage, the players have secured at least 160 million in bonuses so far — the Korea Football Association is also offering bonuses for each win and draw. If the Taeguk Warriors manage to beat Brazil in the round of 16 on Tuesday morning and advance to the quarterfinals, each player will receive more than double that amount in prize money.

BY KO BONG-JUN, LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]