As professional sports clubs grow into bigger and bigger financial powerhouses, the wealth in the game can often trickle down through the levels of the businesses.
In recent years, many of the most globally renowned players have benefitted greatly from this, as the top level of football salaries have increased exponentially.
With the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, two of the greatest football players to ever exist, nearing the end of their playing days, both were wooed to secondary leagues by enormous salaries, hoping to cash in for the final few years of their careers.
The Sporting News details the highest paid football players from around the world, a list topped by the aforementioned legends.
Highest paid soccer players in the world
All figures via Forbes 2025 Top 50 highest-paid athletes in the world, unless otherwise noted.
5. Neymar (Brazil)
- Total earnings: $76 million
- Salary: $46 million
- Endorsements: $30 million
Neymar has had a rocky few years as he crests the 30-year-old mark. After leaving PSG in 2023, he signed an enormous deal with Saudi club Al Hilal, earning a massive salary in the process.
Unfortunately for the oft-injured Brazilian, a torn ACL was his undoing. He barely saw the field at all in Saudi Arabia, and once he suffered a hamstring injury just minutes after returning from the long layoff, Al Hilal pulled the plug. Neymar signed with his boyhood club Santos, where he currently plays today, but injuries have continued to plague his career.
Still, he remains handsomely compensated, paid just under $50 million a year for his short-term contract which expires at the end of the calendar year. Will he remain at Santos, or be forced to find yet another new home to continue his complicated football career?
4. Kylian Mbappe (France, Real Madrid)
- Total earnings: $90 million
- Salary: $70 million
- Endorsements: $20 million
PSG tried hard to keep Kylian Mbappe around, but they could not match the allure of Real Madrid. When the French superstar signed with the La Liga club, he agreed to a deal that would pay him $70 million a year through the expiration of his deal in 2029.
It makes Mbappe the highest-paid player currently contracted to a European club, and his earnings are extremely high in that regard given the financial restrictions in place across the continent. La Liga has especially strict financial regulations, but Madrid made it work without a second thought, all while their El Clasico rivals Barcelona floundered with a lack of monetary wiggle room.
3. Karim Benzema (France, Al Ittihad)
- Total earnings: $104 million
- Salary: $100 million
- Endorsements: $4 million
Departing Real Madrid in 2023 after an illustrious career in the Spanish capital, Karin Benzema was wooed by a huge offer from Saudi club Al Ittihad during a time when the Saudi PIF was spending massive amounts of money to attract global superstars to the league.
Benzema signed on with a $100 million per season contract, which makes him the third-highest paid soccer player in the world.
While Cristiano Ronaldo has flourished in the Saudi league, Benzema has largely faded into obscurity. He scored just nine goals in his first season amidst reports that he could leave due to unhappiness. While he bounced back with 21 goals in his second season, he still remains squarely in Ronaldo’s shadow, much like he did through the first half of his Real Madrid career.
2. Lionel Messi (Argentina, Inter Miami)
- Total earnings: $135 million
- Salary: $60 million
- Endorsements: $75 million
After leaving both Barcelona and PSG in inauspicious circumstances, Lionel Messi found payday when he signed on with Major League Soccer side Inter Miami in the United States.
Messi is paid just over $20 million per year by Inter Miami, but reports have widely indicated that he is paid on top of that by other league supporters, including Apple who carry the rights to broadcast MLS matches. In addition, playing in the United States sees Messi gain access to significant endorsement opportunities.
Interestingly, when Messi signed for Inter Miami, he was rumored to have turned down a downright eye-watering offer from Saudi Arabia which would have seen him paid over $500 million every year across a three-year contract. Can you imagine if he had agreed to such a deal?
1. Cristian Ronaldo (Portugal, Al Nassr)
- Total earnings: $261 million
- Salary: $211 million
- Endorsements: $50 million
Cristiano Ronaldo’s utterly obscene contract with Saudi club Al Nassr makes him not only the highest-paid soccer player in the world in 2025 by a gargantuan margin, but indeed the highest-paid athlete overall.
Signing a new contract with Al Nassr in the summer of 2025, Ronaldo is paid $211 million per season with the Saudi club. While that’s slightly below his previous figure of $225 million, it’s still far and away the highest salary for any athlete in global professional sports. Add in endorsements, and Ronaldo earns over $250 million every single year when it’s all tallied up.
