THE Lionesses earned far less than the men for their World Cup efforts.

England's women lost a heartbreaking final to Spain in Sydney on Sunday.

Olga Carmona's goal on just before the half-hour mark proved the difference as Sarina Wiegman's side fell just short of being crowned world champions.

Their amazing run to the final saw them pocket a £2.4million prize money pot for the FA from Fifa.

That £2.4m is likely to be split between the players and the FA – with the governing body historically giving 40 per cent to the squad in their previous tournaments for the men.

Should the same percentages be used for the women this time around, the 23 heroic Lionesses would get £41,700 each with £1.44m going back into the FA.

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And Fifa introduced a new personal player bonus scheme for this Women's World Cup which means all the players take home an extra £153,000 each.

That would total £194,700 for the 23 women, nearly quadruple the £55,000 they earned for winning the Euros in 2022.

However, the figure could be changed if the Lionesses and the FA can reach an agreement over bonuses.

England pay their Three Lions and Lionesses £2,000 every time they represent the national team, with the men's match fees given straight to charity.

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But the disparity in FA bonuses triggered a public statement from the Lionesses blasting the national governing body on the eve of the World Cup.

The row between the two parties was put on hold during the tournament in Australia and New Zealand – with Ian Wright slamming the FA as "embarrassing".

But the players are determined to have their voices heard after their initial request for a £100,000 FA bonus should they win the World Cup was rejected by the FA – even though they agreed to pay their male counterparts an extra £500,000 if they had won Qatar 2022.

The men received £300,000 each for reaching the Euro 2020 final the year before – and would have got £460,000 per player had they won the shootout against Italy at Wembley.

Gareth Southgate's men were dumped out in the quarter-finals at last year's World Cup, losing 2-1 to France.

Fifa awarded England £17m in prize money for reaching the last eight.

And assuming the FA used the same 40:60 split, that would have seen the 26 players divide £6.8m between them for £261,500 each and the remaining £10.2m kept in-house.

That works out as approximately £66,800 more than the finalist women – with the vast majority of the Lionesses' cash coming directly from Fifa and not from the FA.

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