Cristiano Ronaldo remains the best-paid footballer in the world. According to VnExpress, the top-10 list published by Forbes magazine on 17 October puts the Portuguese forward first for the fourth year in a row, with projected earnings of $300 million for the 2026-27 season. Lionel Messi is second on $145 million, the highest figure of his career but still less than half of Ronaldo's.
VnExpress breaks Ronaldo's total down into $250 million from Al Nassr and $50 million from endorsements and business ventures. Messi is projected to receive $70 million from Inter Miami and $75 million from commercial deals, investments and other off-field income. The two stars, 41 and 39, remain far ahead of everyone else even as their playing careers wind down.
The top 10 in two currencies
VnExpress reports the Forbes figures in US dollars, while Dân trí gives the same list in pounds sterling. The order is identical in both:
| Rank | Player | US$ million (VnExpress) | £ million (Dân trí) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 300 | 225 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | 145 | 108 |
| 3 | Kylian Mbappe | 100 | 75 |
| 4 | Erling Haaland | 85 | 64 |
| 5 | Vinicius Junior | 76 | 56 |
| 6 | Lamine Yamal | 55 | 41 |
| 7 | Sadio Mane | 54 | 40 |
| 8 | Jude Bellingham | 45 | 34 |
| 9 | Harry Kane | 42 | 32 |
| 10 | Mohamed Salah | 40 | 30 |
Dân trí adds detail on several names: Messi's split is £52 million in Inter Miami wages and £56 million in sponsorship, Vinicius has just signed a new Real Madrid deal worth £25 million in salary, and Barcelona have raised Yamal's pay to £33.5 million. VnExpress splits Yamal's income into $35 million from playing and $20 million from commercial work, up from $43 million a year earlier thanks to new deals with American Eagle, Coca-Cola and McDonald's. Dân trí also notes that Bellingham and Kane make this the first Forbes list with two English players since 2013, when Wayne Rooney and David Beckham featured.
Behind the numbers
The figures are pre-tax estimates before agents' fees and cover salary, bonuses, endorsements and business income, VnExpress explains. Ronaldo and Messi together account for $445 million, close to half of the $942 million earned by the whole top 10. That total is slightly below the $945 million of 2025, mainly because Karim Benzema dropped out after becoming a free agent when his Al Hilal contract ended in the summer of 2026.
Ronaldo's income rests on his contract with Al Nassr, whom he joined at the end of 2022, plus his CR7 brand of fashion, fragrances and hotels and stakes in the tech company Perplexity and wearables maker WHOOP. Earlier this year he became the first active athlete to pass $2 billion in career pre-tax earnings.
Messi has taken a different commercial route. Alongside long-standing partners Mastercard and Michelob, he added deals with OpenAI and Duracell this year, and he completed a takeover of Spanish second-tier club Eldense after buying Cornella, a semi-professional team based in Barcelona. Mbappe is third on $100 million, made up of $70 million from Real Madrid and $30 million off the pitch; he recently left Nike for Swiss shoemaker On in a deal said to include equity, though its value has not been disclosed.
Net worth tells a different story
Forbes measures income over one season. SGGP instead cites Celebrity Net Worth's estimate of accumulated wealth, and on that measure both stars are billionaires: Ronaldo at about $1.2 billion and Messi at more than $1 billion. The rest of that all-time top five is David Beckham on $700 million, Neymar on $450 million and Mbappe on $250 million. SGGP points out that Beckham has earned more since retiring, through his ownership of Inter Miami and long-term deals with Adidas and Maserati. It fits the Forbes view, carried by VnExpress, that Ronaldo and Messi have already built billionaire fortunes.
What comes next
Ronaldo told Vogue in August that 2026-27 could be his final professional season, VnExpress reports, but he has not made a formal decision. He has 981 goals for club and country, 19 short of 1,000 goals. Messi, who played his farewell match for Argentina against Benin on 6 October, is under contract at Inter Miami until 2028 with an option to buy into the club after retiring, and is expected to pass $2 billion in career earnings within about a year.
Behind them, Mbappe, Haaland and Vinicius are 26 or 27 and Yamal is only 19. VnExpress concludes that this generation is gaining commercial pull but needs years of brand-building to match the financial reach of Ronaldo and Messi.