Here are the top 20 wealthiest soccer players in the world right now.
20. Luis Suarez
Total Net Worth: $70 Million
Club: Barcelona
Country of birth: Uruguay
Position: striker
The 32-year-old started his playing career at a youth club named Nacional and since then, has played in many known clubs, including Ajax and Liverpool. Currently, the well-known player is a part of Barcelona where he kicks the ball as the striker. He also has the same position in the Uruguay national team.
Suarez joined Barcelona in 2014 for $260,000/week wages, with Liverpool being paid $80 million. His current salary exceeds $26 million annually at Barca. He has been one of the bests in football world so far and has achieved many honors and awards, including 4 times La Liga titles, UEFA Champions League in 2014/15, FIFA Club World Cup in 2015, Ajax Player of the Year in 2008/09, 2009/10, Eredivisie Golden Boot in 2009/10, two European Golden Shoes, and a Premier League Golden Boot.
19. Oscar
Total Net Worth: $70 Million
Club: Shanghai SIPG
Country of birth: Brazil
Position: attacking midfielder
The 28-years-old Brazilian player currently kicks the ball as an attacking midfielder for Chinese Club, Shanghai SIPG, while he also plays for Brazil national team. As estimated, he is currently one of the richest footballers in the world with about $70 million of net worth. The former Chelsea player moved to the Chinese club with a transfer fee of $78 million back in December 2016. He currently, earns more than $25 million per year. It has to be mentioned that interestingly Oscar provided a league-high 19 assists and scored 12 goals to help SIPG win the Chinese Super League in 2018.
18. Sergio Ramos
Total Net Worth: $80 Million
Club: Real Madrid
Country of birth: Spain
Position: center back
The current captain of Spain's National Team and Real Madrid is one of the richest soccer players in the world right now, as his net worth is about $80 Million. The 33-year-old legendary player moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2005 & Since then has been one of the bests for the team. In fact, he has won 21 major honors, including four La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, 5 La Liga Best Defender titles, and many more awards. His current salary is $260,000 per week.
17. Paul Pogba
Total Net Worth: $85 Million
Club: Manchester United
Country of birth: France
Position: Midfielder
The 26-year-old magnificent football player is kicking the ball for the Red Devils since 2016, though he has an interest to join Zidane’s Real Madrid. The former Juventus player is one of the bests in the soccer world and currently he earns $380,000 per week, which provides him almost $20 million annually. In addition to playing soccer professionally, the central midfielder’s representatives have done a top-class job of making him one of the most marketable characters in the sport with interesting deals with companies such as Adidas and his media work consisting of presenting MTV Europe Music Awards and appearing in numerous commercials such as the FIFA 17 computer game. This is how Pogba is currently 17th on our list.
16. Ronaldinho
Total Net Worth: $90 Million
Club: retired
Country of birth: Brazil
Position: attacking midfielder
The 39-year-old first joined Grêmio when he was 18 and continued to be one of the best players in the 21st century. He started playing for Paris Saint-Germain from 2001 to 2003 and then joined Barcelona to be one of their bests till 2008. Later he joined Milan, Flamengo, Atletico Mineiro, Queretaro and finally Fluminense in 2015. He is known as one of the legends in the football world with some scenes he has made during his professional career, such as the goal he scored against Venezuela to help Brazil win the Copa America. That goal is still remembered by fans and is thought to be the greatest ever scored in Brazil's long soccer history. Ronaldinho also helped Brazil win its 5th World Cup in 2002, won the FIFA World Player of the Year twice and was included in Pele's FIFA 100 list.
15. Pele
Total Net Worth: $100 Million
Club: retired
Country of birth: Brazil
Position: Forward
Known as one of the best players of the 20th century and definitely one of the bests of all time, Pele is regarded as a soccer legend for all the football fans. The 79-year-old was voted World Player of the Century by IFFHS in 1999 and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century award. He is the most successful domestic league goal-scorer in football history scoring 1281 goals in 1363 games, which included unofficial friendlies. This is a Guinness World Record. The legendary rich man in currently 15th in our list with $100 Million of net worth.
14. Samuel Eto’o Fils
Total Net Worth: $95 MillionClub: retiredCountry of birth: CameroonPosition: striker
Apparently, Samuel Eto’o Fils is not only the 14th on our list, but he is the richest footballer in Africa, as his net worth is estimated to be $95 million. The former Chelsea player has played for many big clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Mallorca, Inter Milan, Sampdoria, Antalyaspor, and Everton. It is also interesting to know that as a member of the Cameroon national team, Eto'o was a part of the squad that won the Gold Medal at the 2000 Olympics and he also won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2000 and 2002.
13. Eden Hazard
Total Net Worth: $100 Million
Club: Real Madrid
Country of birth: Belgium
Position: Winger
Reportedly, the Belgium superstar is making around $245,000 per week after tax, with bonuses added on top of his base wage, which makes him almost $13 million annually. Hazard moved to Real Madrid from Chelsea during the 2019 summer transfer window for $111 million. Apart from the income he has from his professional football playing, he holds a wealthy sponsorship deal with Nike, while he is also the face behind Belgian-based Lotus Bakeries. In 2017, Hazard also invested a stake in owning North American Soccer League franchise San Diego 1904 FC.
12. Francesco Totti
Total Net Worth: $101.6 Million
Club: Retired
Country of birth: Italy
Position: Attacking midfielder
There is no doubt that Totti is one of the best football players in the 21st century. The 43-year-old who is known as Roma & Italy legend of all time was retired from football just three years ago and was referred to as the “golden boy” through his playing career.
The Captain spent his entire career at Roma, where he won a Serie A title, two Coppa Italia titles, 2006 FIFA World Cup, All-Star team for UEFA Euro 2000 and FIFA 2006, five Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year awards, two Serie A Footballer of the Year awards, two Serie A Goal of the Year awards, one Serie A Goalscorer of the Year award, and one Serie A Young Footballer of the Year award. He also won the 2007 European Golden Shoe and the 2010 Golden Foot.
Knowing all these facts, it looks not strange for “The Eighth King of Rome” to be in our list of richest footballers in the world.
11. Kaká
Total Net Worth: $105 Million
Club: retired
Country of birth: Brazil
Position: Attacking midfielder
Ricardo Kaká is a well-known name for many of us as he was one of the bests during his professional playing career at both club and international level.
During his playing years, he has kicked the ball for many big clubs, besides Brazil national team. These clubs include São Paulo, Milan, and Real Madrid.
It has to be said that the legendary Brazilian was one of the biggest earners in the soccer world, besides the lucrative endorsement deals he made with the likes of Sony, Adidas, Armani, and PepsiCo. He was also was the first sportsperson to amass 10 million followers on Twitter which has brought him many opportunities.
10. Andres Iniesta
Total Net Worth: $120 Million
Club: Vissel Kobe
Country of birth: Spain
Position: Midfielder
The current Vissel Kobe Midfielder is the one who spent most of his career at Barcelona, where he served as the captain for three seasons. He has been a very successful player during his professional career and is known as one of the bests in the football world all around the world. It is interesting to know that his move to Vissel Kobe in 2018 has brought him an astonishing amount of money in wages and bonuses. However, that’s not all and the Spanish player is one of the ones to make deals with Nike and Asics which has made him very reach in cash.
9. Gareth Bale
Total Net Worth: $125 Million
Club: Real Madrid
Country of birth: Wales
Position: Winger
Despite the player has had a tough summer and after all the ups and downs with Zinedine Zidane, now the winger is back in the games, shining all over again. However, that’s not all as Bale has found other ways of earning cash, such as the Sponsorship deals he has made with Adidas, Lucozade, and BT Sport. The Welshman also has his fair share of business interests including his own sports bar called Elevens in his hometown of Cardiff.
8. Wayne Rooney
Total Net Worth: $160 Million
Club: Derby County
Country of birth: England
Position: Striker
Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation, he has scored many goals for both the England national team and Manchester United, in addition to the other clubs he has kicked the ball for.
He was D.C. United’s forward from 2018 to 2019 but most recently, the 34-year-old has moved to Derby County.
He has been awesome all through these years and has won the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, League Cup, UEFA Europa League, and FIFA Club World Cup.
His success over the years at club level and internationally has made him rich in cash, but he has also made endorsement deals with big brands such as Nike, Nokia, Coca-Cola, and Ford which has made him even more wealthy.
7. Neymar
Total Net Worth: $185 Million
Club: PSG
Country of birth: Brazil
Position: Forward
A lot has been going on with the 27-year-old Brazilian recently. He is one of the bests in the football world who currently kicks the ball as a forward for French champions, PSG where he is paid $900,000 per week. This is while he really liked to leave the club for Barcelona during the summer transfer window.
Anyway, besides the money he is paid for his professional soccer playing and his bonuses, he is well known is social marketing and sponsorship and that is how he is standing 7th in our list.
6. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Total Net Worth: $190 Million
Club: LA Galaxy
Country of birth: Sweden
Position: Striker
The 38-year-old player is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world of football in his generation. Through all these years he has played for many well-known teams, including Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Milan, PSG, Manchester United, and LA Galaxy.
It is also interesting to know that he’s also one of a few players who has had deals with both Adidas and Nike.
5. Dave Whelan
Total Net Worth: $210 Million
Club: retired
Country of birth: England
Position: full-back
Not a famous one in the soccer world! Huh?! First of all, you need to know that the former player is currently 83 years old and as he was not a famous one as a player, it’s normal for many not to know him. But the question is why is his name in the list and more specifically why is he fifth?
Well, though his dad was a coal miner, and he was a player to play just for 10 years, Dave Whelan became a successful business magnate after his playing days.
In fact, it seems like he was born more of a businessperson than a football player, which fortunately he figured out himself.
After being retired from professional soccer, he focused on his chain of supermarkets, Whelan's Discount Stores, which were sold to Ken Morrison, another supermarket chain, for almost 3 million Dollars in 1978.
Just one year before this, he bought sports and fishing store J. J. Bradburn and renamed it to JJB Sports. The company was the empire, which grew throughout the ’80s and ’90s, and eventually became the U.K.’s second-biggest retailer.
However, that is not all, and the wealthy former football player also owned other big companies and clubs, such as DW Sports Fitness, Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Warriors, and Orrell Rugby Union Club.
4. Lionel Messi
Total Net Worth: $400 million
Club: Barcelona
Country of birth: Argentina
Position: Attacker
Did you know that the best footballer of all time, is not first on our list, but is fourth? What else do you think you may not know about him? Check out it out on “Top facts about the best footballer in the world, Lionel Messi”.
The six-time Ballon d'Or and European Golden shoe winner has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he currently earns $650,000 per week.
However, that is not all, as the famous captain has had a brilliant performance in international level as well.
In addition, he has an interesting revenue through his sponsorship contracts such as his life-long deal with Adidas.
3. David Beckham
Total Net Worth: $450 Million
Club: retired
Country of birth: England
Position: Midfielder
David Beckham is one of the bests in the football world with no doubt who has played in many teams, including Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, Milan, LA Galaxy, Paris Saint-Germain, and the England national team. Currently, he is the president of Inter Miami CF and also is the co-owner of Salford City.
It is interesting to know that he is the first English footballer to become a league titleholder in four different countries: England, Spain, the United States, and France.
Anyway, it has to be said that the former player is not just earning cash from football, but he also has income as a businessperson, a model, and a spokesperson.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
Total Net Worth: $450 Million
Club: Juventus
Country of birth: Portugal
Position: Attacker
Thinking about the best football player in the 21st century, you will definitely remember Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. However, you have to know that though they are the bests, they are not the richest! In fact, Ronaldo is the second with $450 Million of net worth, while Messi is standing the fourth.
However, it has to be said that for Ronaldo playing professionally is not the only way to earn money. In fact, the Juventus hero not only earns the most amount of money per week in club soccer but he also has his famous brand CR7 in addition to various business ventures including his hotels and clothing line.
It is interesting to know that currently, the player earns $663,000 per week, which gathers him $35 million per year.
1. Faiq Bolkiah
Total Net Worth: $20 billion
Club: Leicester City
Country of birth: Brunei
Position: Midfielder
Time to see who’s the richest football player in the world. We bet you couldn’t have guessed his name unless you knew about this fact, but who is this?
Currently, the Brunei national team captain, Faiq Bolkiah, who also kicks the ball as a midfielder for Leicester City is standing first on our list. But the question is how?!
Interestingly he’s the son of Jefri Bolkiah, Prince of Brunei, and the nephew of the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah and that’s how he has put Ronaldo, Messi and David Beckham behind, to stand on top of the list of the wealthiest soccer players in the world.