The richest footballers in the world are without some of the planet’s most talented and graceful footballers. More than their passion, their thirst and tenacity for the sports, over the years, has not only been rewarding by playing in some top clubs on the planet but also rewarded them richly in earnings, endorsements and influencing.
Football is undoubtedly the most loved and the most followed sports in the world and being fans favourites has unlocked obscene wealth for most of these footballers that they make money literally from everything they do, including social media postings, image rights, investments, weekly earnings and a host of other things.
The fact that many have come to see football as a rewarding sport has further led a lot of teenagers and youngsters into the love for the sport. There is no denying that the sport has some of the most fashionable, and hottest individuals who can beat even the hottest models in their profession.
Top 10 Richest Footballers In The World Right Now
Based on careful earning statistics study, endorsements and values, here are the top 10 richest footballers in the world right now:
10. Eden Hazard – $100 million
Belgian and former Chelsea star, Eden Hazard is the 10th richest footballer in the world, with a net worth of $100 million. The Real Madrid star bags about £400,000 a week at the Bernabeu and enjoys decent sponsorship deals with Electronic Arts and Nike. He is the richest Belgian player in the world.
9. Mesut Özil – $120 million
German footballer, Mesut Özil has enjoyed massive attention from the footballing world, particularly from the time he moved to Real Madrid to register his presence as one of the greatest playmakers ever to grace the game. At number 9 is the controversial former Arsenal player. The playmaker profits off football besides being on the pitch and rakes in money via endorsements from some huge companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Beats Electronics and Adidas.
9. Andrés Iniesta – $120 million
Andrés Iniesta Luján, former Barcelona midfielder and Vissel Kobe player holds the joint record with Özil as the 9th richest footballer in the world. Iniesta currently plays in the Japanese league (J1 League) and bags $576,923 weekly as wages. Despite not playing in Europe, Iniesta still rakes in about $5 million in year endorsements from brands such as Nike, Nissan and UFX.com.
8. Paul Pogba – $125 million
Charismatic French midfielder, Paul Pogba is the 8th richest footballer in the world right now. Pogba who has switched clubs and reconnected with Serie A giants, Juventus from English club, Manchester United, made £290,000 per week at the Old Trafford and earned £15,080,000 annually. Pogba moved back to Juventus after agreeing to take a 55% pay cut; meaning he now earns about £131,000-a-week. Pogba’s endorsement deals include Adidas, a ten-year deal worth $31 million. He is also endorsed by TCL and PepsiCo but the financial details were never available to the public.
7. Kylian Mbappé – $150 million
Kylian Mbappé, is a French forward who plays for Paris Saint-Germain. His immense talent has propelled him not just to the list of richest footballers in the world right now but also one of the most sought-after players in the world. Mbappé is the 7th richest footballer on the planet with a net worth of $150 million. Owing to the desperation of PSG in preventing Mbappe from moving to Real Madrid in the summer of 2022, Mbappé’s insane contract means he earns approximately $1.15 million weekly ($63 million per year). Mbappé enjoys multi-million Dollar deals signed with EA Sports, Nike and Hublot.
6. Zlatan Ibrahimović – $190 million
Zlatan Ibrahimović is an embodiment of what modern day footballers should be and his flair of the game has no doubt rewarded the Swedish who has played in almost every league and still thirsting after football despite being in his forties. With a net worth of $190 million, Zlatan Ibrahimović is the 6th richest footballer in the world. While he earns about €135,000 per week and €7 million per year at AC Milan, Ibrahimović has endorsement deals with brands such Microsoft Xbox, Nike, Samsung, Nivea, Volvo, all worth over €10 million.
5. Neymar Jr. – $200 million
Charismatic Brazilian footballer, Neymar Jr. is the 5th richest footballer in the world right now, with a net worth of $200 million. The former Barcelona man lives the life of a king at French club, Paris Saint-Germain and is the highest-earning footballer at the club, raking in $1,020,750 million per week ($4,082,000 million every month) in salary and enjoys insane endorsement deals from multinational brands such as Air Jordan, Panasonic, L’Oreal, and Gillette.
4. Lionel Messi – $400 million
Former Barcelona player and Argentinean, Lionel Messi is the fourth richest footballer in the world, with a net worth of $400 million. Additionally, Messi is the current highest-paid athlete in the world, with a total of $130 million ($75 million off-field, and $55 million off-field). Messi is the third-highest earning footballer ($843,750 weekly and $3,375,000 million monthly) at PSG, only behind Neymar and Mbappe and rakes in about $40 million every year from brand endorsements such as Adidas, Ooredoo, Lay’s, Gatorade, Pepsi, Jacob & Co., Budweiser, Hard Rock International.
3. David Beckham – $450 million
England legend, David Beckham is the 3rd richest footballer in the world with a net worth of $450 million. The former Manchester United legend who also played for Real Madrid is the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Even as a retired footballer, Beckham still makes insane money from endorsements. The retired English footballer signed a $160.8 lifetime deal with Adidas and still makes $42 million every year from endorsements with brands such as Adidas, Konami, Tudor, Kent & Curwen, Diageo, Jaguar, Coty, H&M, Sainsbury’s, Samsung and Breitling.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo – $500 million
Portuguese forward, Cristiano Ronaldo is the second-richest footballer in the world, with a net worth of $500 million. While Ronaldo may not be the highest-earning athlete in the world, the walking advertising billboard signed a lifetime deal with Nike worth $1 billion and receives $20 million annually from the company. Besides that, Ronaldo is the most marketable footballer on the planet and earns a staggering $1.6 million per sponsored post on Instagram.
Ronaldo also owns businesses in industries such as clothing and fashion, he owns a lingerie company for adults and kids, a jeans company called CR7 Denim, and also partnered with a British perfume manufacturer and gave birth to Eden Perfume Cristiano Ronaldo Fragrance; Ronaldo also own stakes in Grupo Mabel Capital, the company behind the elite restaurant Zela; the former Real Madrid player also signed a deal with Crunch Franchise in 2016 to open CR7 Crunch Fitness, with two currently in Madrid; Ronaldo also owns a private jet rental business where he makes about €3,000 per hour; and finally, his most recent addition, a 50% stake in Insparya, a hair clinic, in which he appointed his girlfriend to serve as the company’s executor.
1. Faiq Bolkiah – $20 billion
As far as football stars go, Faiq Bolkiah is probably not one fit to make it into this list, but the Bruneian professional footballer is the richest footballer in the world, not because he is talented or makes money from football. Faiq Bolkiah is from the Bruneian royal family. His uncle, Hassanal Bolkiah is the 29th and current Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei since 1967 and the Prime Minister of Brunei since independence from the United Kingdom in 1984, with over 600 Rolls Royces, over 570 Mercedes-Benz, over 450 Ferraris, and over 380 Bentleys.
Faiq Bolkiah, a former Leicester City development side player currently plays for Chonburi F.C., a Thai professional football club based in the city of Chonburi. At Leicester City’s development side, Faiq Bolkiah earned just $1,000 weekly.