Panama and New Zealand will face the highest tax burdens of any teams competing in the 2026 World Cup, according to an analysis published by the National Taxpayers Union Foundation on June 22, 2026. The report calculates that Panama faces an estimated overall "jock tax" rate of 52.11% during the group stage, while New Zealand confronts a 46.42% rate. The study examined how much each of the 48 World Cup teams will pay in nonresident athlete taxes based on where their matches are played and where they've set up their training base camps across the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
The tax burden varies dramatically depending on location and group assignments. South Korea enjoys the lowest estimated jock tax rate at just 25%, followed by Colombia at 25.56% and South Africa at 26.11%—all three teams benefit from playing matches primarily in Mexico, which assesses nonresident athletes at a flat 25% rate. At the other end, Panama's misfortune stems from playing two matches in Toronto and a third in New Jersey, combined with basing their camp in Ontario, Canada, where the combined tax rate reaches 53.53%. New Zealand plays all its matches in either Vancouver or California and chose San Diego as its base camp, where California's top rate hits 44.40%. Group B earned the dubious title of "Group of Tax Death" with an average match tax rate of 46.56%, as teams play almost exclusively in California or Canada. Meanwhile, Groups A and K share "Group of Tax Freedom" status at just 29.17%, thanks to matches concentrated in Mexico, Texas, and Florida.
The report explains that professional athletes face "jock taxes"—income taxes owed not only in their home jurisdiction but also in any location where they play games or train. At the international level, athletes must navigate entirely separate national tax systems, with interactions governed by bilateral tax treaties that may or may not exist. Of the 47 visiting World Cup nations, only 22 have tax treaties with the United States, and even those treaties don't make compliance simple. Nonresident athletes playing in the U.S. face a 30% federal tax rate on gross earnings, though treaties allow athletes to set up Central Withholding Agreements to claim deductions for expenses. Mexico offers the most favorable rate at 25%, while Canada requires 15% withholding but then taxes at its normal high rates upon filing. Tax obligations are calculated based on "duty days," which include not just game days but also training, practice, and other professional activities.
The analysis notes that while highly paid soccer stars can manage these complex requirements, the burden falls much harder on players earning modest salaries, as well as coaches and staff for smaller teams. Greenback Tax Services estimates professional tax compliance costs between $5,000 and $15,000 per person—a negligible amount for superstars but a significant expense for players on underdog teams. The report points out that FIFA secured a deal with the IRS for an exemption from federal income tax, but that exemption only covers FIFA and national associations, not individual players. For teams from smaller, developing nations without sophisticated international tax systems, protection from double taxation is less certain, as it's entirely up to each athlete's home country to provide foreign tax credits or not.