World Cup Semifinals’ Five Highest-Paid Players Earn $363 Million Annually in Salary and Endorsements

The World Cup is down to its final four contenders: France, Spain, Argentina and England.

Together, the semifinalists boast five players who rank among the ten highest-paid soccer stars in the world.

France meet Spain on Tuesday in a headline matchup that will put Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal on opposing sides of one of the tournament’s most closely watched games.

The following day, Lionel Messi and Argentina face an England squad spearheaded by Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.

Combined, those five standout semifinalists bring in an estimated $363 million per year through club wages, performance incentives, endorsement agreements and other business ventures.

Messi tops the list with estimated yearly earnings of $140 million, split evenly between $70 million in salary and on-field compensation and $70 million from endorsements. Years of elite contracts, sponsorships and business ventures have helped lift Lionel Messi’s net worth to $1 billion, a milestone he reportedly crossed only a few weeks ago.

Mbappé is estimated to earn about $95 million annually, including $70 million in salary and bonuses and $25 million from endorsements. Bellingham follows at $44 million, with $30 million from salary and $14 million from endorsements; Yamal earns $43 million, including $25 million in salary and $18 million off the field; and Kane brings in $41 million, made up of $30 million in salary and $11 million from endorsements.

The semifinals will not feature the highest-paid soccer player of them all: Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal was eliminated by Spain in the round of 16, but Ronaldo continues to occupy a financial universe of his own. He earns a staggering $300 million per year. Cristiano Ronaldo’s net worth is $1.2 billion. He is the richest soccer player in the world and the first soccer player to crack the $1 billion net worth mark, a feat he accomplished a year ago.

Erling Haaland also fell short of the semifinals after Norway lost to England. Even so, Haaland walks away from the tournament as one of its biggest stars and one of the most popular athletes in the world. Between his Manchester City compensation and endorsements, he earns an estimated $80 million per year.

Collectively, the ten highest-paid soccer players earn an astonishing $912 million per year.

That figure has changed dramatically over the last decade.

In 2016, the ten highest-paid soccer players earned approximately $401 million combined. Messi and Ronaldo were already at the top, but several of the players now chasing them were still children or teenagers. Haaland was 15 years old. Mbappé was 17. Bellingham was 12. Yamal was eight.

The 10 Highest-Paid Soccer Players In The World Today

The following estimates include club salaries, performance bonuses, endorsements, licensing income and other commercial earnings during the previous 12 months.

The Highest-Paid Players In 2016

The earnings landscape looked very different ten years ago.

Messi led the rankings with estimated earnings of $83 million. Ronaldo was close behind at $75.45 million, while Neymar was the only other player earning anywhere near $50 million.

The remaining seven players earned between approximately $24 million and $32 million apiece.

Ronaldo And Messi Now Make More Than The Entire 2016 Top 10

The most remarkable part of this comparison is that the two names at the top have not changed.

In 2016, Messi and Ronaldo earned an estimated $158.45 million combined. Today, they earn approximately $440 million—more than all ten of the highest-paid soccer players earned in 2016.

Ronaldo’s annual earnings have increased from $75.45 million to $300 million, nearly quadrupling in a decade. Messi’s earnings have risen from $83 million to $140 million.

An entire generation of new superstars has arrived, but Ronaldo and Messi still occupy the top two positions.

Lamine Yamal Was Eight Years Old

Back in 2016, Lamine Yamal was eight years old and playing in Barcelona’s youth academy. Messi was Barcelona’s biggest star and the highest-paid player in soccer.

Today, Yamal wears Barcelona’s famous No. 10 shirt and is preparing to lead Spain against France in a World Cup semifinal. He earns an estimated $43 million per year, and his Barcelona contract runs through June 2031 with a €1 billion release clause.

Yamal now earns almost $19 million more per year than Andrés Iniesta, the tenth-highest-paid player in 2016.

Haaland And Mbappé Were Teenagers

Erling Haaland was 15 years old in 2016. Kylian Mbappé was 17 and had only recently made his senior debut for Monaco.

Today, Mbappé earns an estimated $95 million per year with Real Madrid and his endorsement partners. Haaland earns approximately $80 million, including around $60 million from his heavily incentivized Manchester City contract and $20 million from endorsements.

Together, Haaland and Mbappé now earn $175 million per year—more than Messi and Ronaldo earned combined in 2016.

Kane And Bellingham Give England Two Top-10 Earners

Harry Kane was 22 years old in 2016 and had not yet cracked the ten highest-paid players. Today, he earns an estimated $41 million annually, placing him tenth in the world.

Jude Bellingham was just 12 when the 2016 list was published. He now earns approximately $44 million per year through his Real Madrid compensation and endorsement portfolio.

Together, Kane and Bellingham earn $85 million per year as they prepare to lead England against Messi and Argentina in Wednesday’s semifinal.

How Soccer’s Top 10 Went From $401 Million To $912 Million

The combined earnings of the ten highest-paid players have increased from approximately $401 million to $912 million—a jump of $511 million, or roughly 128%.

Saudi Arabian spending shattered the sport’s salary ceiling, while European clubs committed increasingly large sums to retain younger stars. Endorsement income has also surged as players have become global brands with enormous social-media audiences and business interests extending far beyond traditional shoe contracts.

In 2016, earning around $25 million was enough to reach the top ten. Today, $41 million only gets a player into tenth place.

And despite all that financial growth and generational turnover, Ronaldo and Messi remain first and second.