Birmingham City land 6-figure cash windfall due to FIFA World Cup | OneFootball

Paik Seung-ho was Blues' sole representative at the tournament

Birmingham City's preparations for the 2026/27 Championship season are now underway, with Chris Davies' squad reporting for the start of their pre-season training at the club's EPIC training facility earlier in the week.

The 41-year-old will have several key decisions to make in the weeks that lead up to their first competitive encounter of the new season, which comes in the form of a trip to Swansea City on the weekend of August 8th in the EFL Cup first round.

Birmingham finished 10th in their first season back in the second tier last time out, which, as a result, generated plenty of mixed reactions from supporters at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, as well as those on the outside.

Indeed, under the ownership of Knighthead Capital Management, which is now into its third year, Blues haven't been afraid to part with high sums of cash to lure new signings to the West Midlands, and such a theme continued into 2025/26 in both transfer windows.

As such, there was an air of frustration that the club couldn't make the play-offs, even though finishing 10th was still the highest they had finished in the division since 2015/16.

So far this summer, there hasn't been much speculation on the incomings front yet, whilst the likes of Demarai Gray, Marvin Ducksch and Jay Stansfield have all been the subject of exit talk.

However, whilst the club have generated plenty of income through recent high-profile sponsorship deals, Birmingham are now set for another six-figure windfall which could come in handy at some point.

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Indeed, it has been reported by Birmingham Live that as a result of Paik Seung-ho's involvement in the current FIFA World Cup 2026 in Canada, Mexico and the United States, Blues will net a fee in excess of £100,000.

Such funds will be banked by the Second City outfit courtesy of FIFA's Club Benefit Programme, which sees clubs across the world net a daily figure of $5,000 (£3,750) for each day one of their players competes at the World Cup after they have officially been released from their clubs for the required time period.

Paik was part of the World Cup with South Korea for a total of 33 days, which means Blues are set to receive an approximate figure of £135,000.

The 29-year-old played in both of his nation's pre-tournament friendlies against Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador, before starting in all three Group A games against Czechia, Mexico and South Africa.

However, despite finishing third, they were knocked out on goal difference due to finishing as the 10th-best third placed team, two places behind Senegal in the key ranking.

Birmingham City could be without Paik Seung-ho's services for a period despite post-World Cup break

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Such feats also come after Paik played in 43 of Birmingham's 46 league matches in 2025/26, where he scored four times and continued to be a key player for Davies, two years after signing from Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

The former Barcelona academy graduate is now set for a break ahead of the upcoming Championship season, although it remains to be seen when supporters could see the 30-time international in action again.

After dislocating his shoulder in the 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough last November, Paik suffered the same injury misfortune in the first half of the goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion in February, but ignored advice to undergo surgery in a bid to help Blues' season and South Korea's World Cup dream.

The tournament, which already generated plenty of controversy, was only added to by the Koreans when the squad was involved in a stand-off with their national press due to accusations of ridicule towards captain and former Tottenham Hotspur man, Son Heung-min, due to his prior exemption relating to the country's mandatory military service programme.

But, with that now behind him, Paik will hope he can still contribute massively to a season in which Blues will hope to make a much more sustained bid for the top eight, following the expansion of the play-offs.