Top of the best paid soccer players from the World Cup » They earned almost $1 billion together in the last year!
Article by Daniel Scorpie – Published Wednesday, June 10, 2026 9:23 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, June 10, 2026 11:09 p.m.
Cristiano Ronaldo (41 years old), the captain of Portugal, will play in his sixth World Cup, a record he shares with world champion Lionel Messi and Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. However, the Lusitanian striker is the clear leader of the money won in the 2025-'26 season, ahead of his Argentinian rival and Kylian Mbappe, the captain of France.
Moreover, the best scorer in the history of football, who came very close to the thousand goals in his career, is also the first player in the world to break the barrier of 2 billion dollars earned from the king sport, according to the latest list published by the American magazine Forbes.
The ranking of the first 10 footballers present at the World Cup in terms of earnings in the 2025-2026 season. In black, money earned due to performances on the field, in green from outside the lawn / Photo: Sportico
Cristiano is the first bibillionaire footballer, but without a world title!
European champion and double winner of the Nations League, the 41-year-old footballer has not yet reached the top of the world with the national team. Regardless of whether this happens in Cristiano's (record) sixth World Cup appearance, he has already won another crown.
Ronaldo is the highest paid player at WC 2026, earning $295 million in the last 12 months (gross amount). The football blockbuster is largely due to his contract with Al-Nassr, where he plays from 2023.
Cristiano Ronaldo won the first title in Saudi Arabia with Al-Nassr / Photo: Imago Images
Cristiano earned $230 million this season, with the deal with the new Saudi champions running until June 2027. He also earns $65 million annually from a number of partners, including Nike, Herbalife and Binance.
The Portuguese has topped Sportico's annual list of the world's highest-paid athletes for the third time in a row. amassing $2.1 billion in career earnings, the largest amounts recorded in the history of football.
Messi earned 40% less than Ronaldo in 2025-26
Ronaldo is one of the few athletes to reach billionaire status, with Bloomberg estimating his net worth at $1.4 billion (the other recent entrant to this select club is Lionel Messi, according to Bloomberg).
Lionel Messi won the 2022 World Championship with Argentina // PHOTO: Imago Images
The 38-year-old Argentinian is the second-highest-earning World Cup 2026 player with $140 million last season. The world champion annually earns half of his money off the field, having commitments with sponsors such as Michelob Ultra, Stanley 1913 and Lowe's.
Kylian Mbappe completes the income podium. with a total of $100 million, being the last player on the North American tour to reach nine figures.
Norway's Erling Haaland (4th place, $80 million) and Brazil's Vinicius Jr. (5th place, $60 million) round out the top five.
This is the breakdown of the amounts collected in 2025-2026 by the highest paid footballers in the World Cup, the money coming from developments on and off the pitch
In total, the 11 footballers with the highest incomes from the WC of 2026 they earned a combined $966 million in the last 12 months!
