The world’s most popular sport is soccer (or football outside the United States). Despite growing popularity in the U.S. for decades, it has consistently been the dominant sport in Europe, South America, and Africa for decades. Around 600 million people watch the World Cup final each year. Teams from more than 200 countries participate in qualifying. The importance of soccer worldwide, its influence, and its superstar players is hard for most Americans to comprehend.
A lot of money is made by top soccer players, as you might imagine.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the world’s two highest-paid players. In addition to being the most popular athlete in the world, Ronaldo is the biggest star in soccer. He has more than 600 million followers on social media. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter all have 344 followers for him. The endorsements Ronaldo gets from Manchester United are almost as much as his salary from the club. Roger Federer, LeBron James, and Tiger Woods are the only athletes who earn more money through endorsements than Ronaldo.
In total, five hundred and eighty-five million dollars were earned by the ten highest-paid soccer players. This is an increase from last year’s $570 million. Outside of the U.S., soccer players earn ten times more than their American counterparts.
There are 10 soccer player in the world who are the highest paid today
#10. Eden Hazard
Earnings: $29 million
Salary: $26 million
Endorsements: $3 million
Team: Real Madrid
Hazard signed a five-year, $118 million deal with Real Madrid in 2019 from Chelsea. He has missed 59 games in Real Madrid’s first two seasons, not living up to the hype. His teammates are rumored to be interested in trading him. He represents McDonald’s in Belgium, where he is a spokesperson for the company. Nike and Nissan are also among his clients.
#9. Gareth Bale
Earnings: $32 million
Salary: $26 million
Endorsements: $6 million
Team: Real Madrid
In the 2019-2020 season, Gareth Bale is returning to Real Madrid after manager Zinedine Zidane resigned following a clash with him, following which he transferred to Tottenham. Bale will likely have a limited playing career. There is rumor that he’s considering a career in golf.
#8. Paul Pogba
Earnings: $34 million
Salary: $27 million
Endorsements: $7 million
Team: Manchester United
Manchester United are nearing a contract extension for Paul Pogba. He also represents France at the national level. With Adidas, he has a 10-year contract worth $45 million half way through.
#7. Andres Iniesta
Earnings: $35 million
Salary: $31 million
Endorsements: $4 million
Team: Vissel Kobe
Iniesta played 22 years for Barcelona. He moved to Japan to play for Vissel Kobe in 2018. For the first time in the club’s history, he played a key role in the club’s successes, winning the 2019 Emperor’s Cup and the Japanese Super Cup early in 2020.
#6. Robert Lewandowski
Earnings: $35 million
Salary: $27 million
Endorsements: $8 million
Team: Bayern Munich
The current contract of Robert Lewandowski is set to expire in 2023. Known as a scoring machine, he has been selected as the German player of the year two years in a row. His clothing line (RL29), as well as endorsement deals with Nike, Huawei, and Head & Shoulder, among others, are all successful.
#5. Mohamed Salah
Earnings: $51 million
Salary: $25 million
Endorsements: $16 million
Team: Liverpool
The current contract of Mohamed Salah expires in two years. Besides being Liverpool’s top scorer, he leads the Premier League in scoring as well. A Premier League record is set to be broken in October 2020 when he scores his 100th goal – the fastest in the league’s history to reach that milestone in just three seasons.
#4. Kylian Mbappe
Earnings: $43 million
Salary: $28 million
Endorsements: $15 million
Team: Paris Saint-Germain
Kylian Mbappe turned down an offer to extend his contract that would have raised his compensation to Neymar’s level for the next two seasons. In terms of his career ambitions, Mbappe has more than both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had at his age (22). His endorsement deals and the cover of FIFA 21 have enabled him to make more than the two soccer superstars at the same age were making.
#3 Neymar
Earnings: $95 million
Salary: $75 million
Endorsements: $20 million
Team: Paris Saint-Germain
There is only one name for Neymar since he is so big. After moving to Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in 2017, he led the team to its first Champions League final in 2020. His contract was recently extended until 2025. In addition, he played a crucial role in the signing of Lionel Messi.
#2. Lionel Messi
Earnings: $110 million
Salary: $75 million
Endorsements: $35 million
Team: Paris Saint-Germain
It was the end of an era when Lionel Messi left Barcelona. He was with the club for 21 years, scoring 672 goals, contributing 268 assists, winning 35 titles, and receiving 78 awards in that time. It’s lower than the $875 million he earned in Barcelona, where he earned $350 million in endorsements over 21 years.
#1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Earnings: $125 million
Salary: $70 million
Endorsements: $55 million
Team: Manchester United
Cristiano Ronaldo returns to Manchester United for the first time in more than a decade this year. Before he joined Juventus, he won the European Championship’s best player award and was the top scorer for Juventus. Before playing for Manchester United, Ronaldo played for Tottenham Hotspur. His career earnings, before taxes, exceed $1 billion.
