Football fever has arrived as England prepare for their first knockout game this evening, but for all the excitement the 2026 World Cup could create some major tax headaches for players.

Fifa is protected because it negotiates some of the most lucrative broadcasting and sponsorship deals in the sports world, which usually come with tax exemptions from host nations as a bid condition. 

In addition, national football associations are also able to benefit from certain tax exemptions – although in the US, where most of this tournament is taking place, FAs must apply for a specific waiver.

But footballers themselves aren’t so lucky. These exemptions do not extend to players or staff, who must balance navigating complex tax rules with focussing on matters on the pitch.

As always with tax, the situation is not clear-cut. Each player’s tax position will depend on their specific circumstances and can be impacted by their country of residence, their employment or self-employment status, and even where their World Cup games are located, among other factors.

A key consideration is whether there is a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) in place between the host nation and the player’s country of residence. This effectively determines which jurisdiction gets the taxing rights on their income.

Tax position plays out differently across the host nations

Even so, players can face an array of challenges when playing in the host nations, assuming they are treated as independent contractors. The US has probably the most complex regime, as tax is levied at both federal and state levels. 

At the federal level, tax is generally 30 per cent – however, this can be varied by the DTA. Meanwhile, state taxes can differ significantly – for example, California’s top rate is 13.3 per cent compared to 0 per cent in Florida. 

In order to avoid double taxation, credits can usually be claimed in the player’s country of residence for the US tax paid – although, again, this depends on the DTA.

In Canada, payments received are taxed at 15 per cent. It may be possible to obtain a waiver in advance to amend this amount, but only for residents of nations who have a DTA with Canada. 

In Mexico, there is a straight 25 per cent tax on gross income but, alternatively, a rate of 35 per cent can be applied to net income after deducting allowable expenses.

In most cases, players will be required to complete tax returns in each host country they play in to calculate their tax position accurately, taking into account all relevant income sources, allowable expenses and the applicable jurisdictions.

An extremely complex set-up

Given that players could be playing in up to three different countries, income is split between each one, generally based on the number of games played in each jurisdiction.

This means that a player could be required to file a US federal tax return plus multiple US state returns, a Canadian tax return, a Mexican tax return and a tax return in their home jurisdiction. 

To further complicate matters, now the transfer window is open, an English player who moves abroad this summer to play for a Spanish club, such as Anthony Gordon, may need to consider their tax position in four or five countries in a single year.

The upshot is that the tax payable by a footballer playing in the Premier League can be extremely different to a player playing elsewhere. 

Players from smaller nations which don’t have DTAs with the host countries may be impacted the most – for example, those from Cape Verde and Curaçao.

Clearly, players at the World Cup need to have more than football on their minds, and fans will hope that they don’t find tax obligations too much of a distraction from the beautiful game.

Adam Jefferies is a private client director at PKF Littlejohn.

England player resident in Saudi Arabia	England player resident in the UK
No DTA between US and Saudi Arabia	DTA between the US and UK
30%-40.75% US tax	15%-25.75% US tax
But: 0% Saudi Arabian tax	But: 45% UK tax (credit given for US tax)
Therefore, maximum tax rate of 40.75%	Therefore, maximum tax rate of 45%