“If in Europe national Cups are gradually losing their prestige, then in Brazil the opposite is true…”, — write: sport.ua
The first match of the final stage of the 2025 Brazil Cup between Corinthians and Vasco da Gama, which took place on December 17 at the Timau field, resulted in a draw (0:0). Now the result of the duel is transferred to the return match, which promises to be extremely hot and extremely important for the fans of both teams.
It’s hard for European fans to imagine why the national cup final is suddenly such an important event for the teams playing for the trophy. After all, on the Old Continent, in the vast majority of countries, national cups are treated with a certain degree of disdain – they say, it is not such an important trophy to fight for, especially if at stake is the opportunity to really save energy and try to win either the championship in the native league, or to advance as far as possible in the tournament distance in the European cups, which gives the opportunity to properly earn on prize money from UEFA.
However, in the homeland of Pele, Garrinci, Romario, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, the national Cup is treated completely differently – this trophy is extremely valued there, and not only because of money, although the financial factor is also extremely significant…
First of all, it should be noted that the winner of the 2025 Brazil Cup draw will receive about 12 million euros from the organizers, if the conversion from the Brazilian real to the European currency is carried out at the current exchange rate. To understand how much this is, it is worth looking at the prize money awarded to the winners of the most prestigious national cup competitions on the European continent.
For example, for winning the FA Cup, the winner can expect to win about 2.4 million euros in prize money. In other words, winning the Brazilian Cup is financially more profitable than the English one by as much as 400%!
For a number of other cup tournaments, the comparison is much less presentable. For example, the winner of the Italian Cup receives 1.95 million euros in prize money, the Spanish Cup – 1.2 million euros, the French Cup – 830 thousand euros, the Portuguese Cup – 320 thousand euros. For clarity of comparison, we can cite the data that appeared in the press regarding prize money for winning the Cup of Ukraine based on the results of the previous season. At that time, the media wrote that 2.5 million hryvnias were at stake for the winner, which at the current exchange rate is equivalent to approximately 50 thousand euros, that is, winning the Brazil Cup is almost 24,000% more economically profitable than winning the national Cup of Ukraine…
Getty Images In the world, statistics regarding prize money are also not particularly different from European ones. For example, the winner of the Saudi Arabia Cup can count on approximately 2.2 million euros in prize money, and the winner of the US Open Cup – on something in the region of 500 thousand euros…
The most profitable for its winner on the European continent is the German Cup. For this trophy, the organizers pay the winner 4.2 million euros. This is almost twice as much as for the FA Cup, where, as it is customary to believe, the richest clubs in modern world football compete, but practically almost three times less than they pay in Brazil.
But why did we note at the beginning of the article that winning the Brazil Cup is important not only in terms of money? The fact is that from 2024, after the Brazilian Football Confederation asked for a similar South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), the winner of the Brazil Cup receives a direct ticket to the group stage of the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious club tournament in South America, which is a kind of analogue of the European UEFA Champions League.
Of course, in the end, participation in the Copa Libertadores, not to mention a possible victory in this tournament (interestingly, in 2025 the triumphant of the most prestigious club tournament in South America turned out to be the very team that qualified for the tournament as the winner of the Brazil Cup – Flamengo), is still associated with big money and prizes, but here it is not entirely correct to speak exclusively about direct benefit. The very fact of the team’s participation in the Libertadores Cup, as well as in the Champions League in Europe, allows Brazilian clubs to promote their own players much better, presenting the “face of the product” to numerous European scouts and selectors. And even without a victory in the Copa Libertadores, many of its members manage to “make money” in the season, selling one or another performer to one or another club of the Old Continent precisely after the player’s successful performances in the top South American tournament.
After all, the opportunity to challenge for the Copa Libertadores, which opens after winning the Copa Brasil, is a huge image plus for any team, and it is no wonder why Corinthians and Vasco da Gama are currently preparing for the second leg duel with all possible responsibility.
In any case, the current Brazil Cup is a unique tournament, and its trophy is probably the most valuable among all similar ones in the whole of world football. Both in financial and competitive and strategic aspects…
Text: meta.ua