England's failure to qualify for next year's World Cup could cost the country £1 BILLION!

FA chiefs stand to lose up to £26 million if England fail to reach next summer's World Cup finals.

And the cost to businesses in the country as a whole could be as much as £1BILLION - heaping more misery on retailers battling to recover from recession, says The Sun.

Just by making it to Brazil, the FA would be guaranteed £8 million in prize money - the minimum amount for teams eliminated in the group stage and up 33 per cent from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

That rises up to £16 million for reaching the quarter-finals, a reasonable expectation for England based on past tournaments, and £26.5 million for winning the World Cup outright.

The governing body could also expect to make at least £10 million from the demand for merchandise, principally from the royalties it would receive on replica England shirts.