Forbes releases its annual list of the world's highest-paid athletes, and once again, soccer players dominate the upper reaches of that ranking. From May 1, 2025 to May 1, 2026, seven soccer players landed spots among the world's top 50 earners—a notable showing, though still fewer than the NFL's nine and well behind basketball's 19 representatives.
Two of those soccer players sit in the top three overall. That fact alone tells you everything about how the sport stacks up against the rest.
The Top Six Earners
6. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) — $60 million
The bulk of this comes from his Real Madrid contract, around $40 million in wages and bonuses. Sponsorships with Nike, Pepsi, Visa, and several others fill out the rest. Not bad for a player still in his early twenties.
5. Erling Haaland (Man City) — $80 million
Haaland is the Premier League's top earner. Roughly $60 million came from Manchester City, with endorsements split between Nike, Beats by Dre, and a handful of global brands. He is the only Premier League player in the top six.
4. Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid) — $95 million
Mbappé is Europe's highest-paid player. About $70 million came from his Real Madrid deal, with another $25 million from sponsors including Nike, Dior, and Hublot. The gap between him and the next player is not enormous, but it exists.
3. Karim Benzema (Al Hilal) — $104 million
This is the surprise. Benzema's move to Al Hilal paid handsomely—around $100 million from his contract alone. The remainder came largely from his longstanding adidas partnership. Nine figures in a league most casual fans could not name without checking.
2. Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) — $140 million
Messi splits his income roughly evenly between his Inter Miami contract and off-field deals. His portfolio includes adidas, Apple, PepsiCo, and a growing business empire that spans clothing, beverages, and hospitality. He remains the third-highest-paid athlete across all sports.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr) — $300 million
Ronaldo is not just the highest-paid soccer player. He is the highest-paid athlete on the planet. His earnings dwarf everyone else—more than double Messi's haul and roughly $130 million ahead of the next highest-paid non-soccer athlete. Around $65 million came from endorsements, while his Al Nassr contract accounts for the remaining $235 million. That works out to roughly $5.77 million per week, $822,000 per day, $34,000 per hour, $566 per minute, and about $9–10 per second.
The numbers are staggering enough that they almost become abstract. But when you break it down to the per-second figure, that is the kind of detail that makes you stop and actually think about what these contracts represent.