Know the Richest Footballers in the World in 2024

Have you ever wondered who is the richest footballer in the world? The popularity of football is constantly skyrocketing, and thus the players also earn a lot. The richest footballers in the world have made money on and off the field through sports and brand endorsements. But before we dive into naming the wealthiest footballers in the world, let’s clear some air about what it means when we say football.

Depending upon which part of the world you belong to, you might interpret Football as Soccer or American Football. This article will highlight the top 19 richest footballers in the world. Our list includes both Soccer and American football players.

Richest Footballer In The World – Top 19 Wealthiest Players

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Tom Brady, and Mathew Strafford have immense wealth and popularity worldwide. This article covers some of the richest footballers in the world and everything you need to know about their wealth! We have taken the rankings from Forbes’s highest-paid athletes. 

Here are the top 19 highest-paid football/soccer players in the world:

1. Lionel Messi – $130 Million+
2. Cristiano Ronaldo- $115 Million+
3. Neymar – $95 Million+
4. Tom Brady – $83 Million+
5. Matthew Stafford – $ 72.3 Million+
6. Aaron Rodgers – $ 68 Million+
7. Josh Allen – $ 67 Million+
8. Deshaun Watson – $ 55.6 Million+
9. Patrick Mahomes – $ 49.1 Million+
10. Kirk Cousins – $ 48.5 Million+
11. Mohamed Salah – $ 45 Million+
12. Kylian Mbappé – $ 43 Million+
13. Marshon Lattimore – $ 40.9 Million+
14. Amari Cooper – $ 39.4 Million+
15. Dak Prescott – $ 39.4 Million+
16. Ryan Ramczyk – $ 38.8 Million+
17. Stefon Diggs – $ 38.7 Million+
18. Russell Wilson – $ 38 Million+
19. T.J.Watt – $ 37.6 Million+

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List Of Richest Football Players In 2024

Richest Footballer in the world	Forbes’ Ranking	Total Earnings	Salary (in $)	Endorsements (in $)	Sport
Lionel Messi	1	130 Million+	75 Million	55 Million	Soccer
Cristiano Ronaldo	3	115 Million+	60 Million	55 Million	Soccer
Neymar	4	95 Million+	70 Million	25 Million	Soccer
Tom Brady	9	83 Million+	31.9 Million	52 Million	Football
Matthew Stafford	13	72.3 Million+	69.8 Million	2.5 Million	Football
Aaron Rodgers	14	68 Million+	57 Million	11 Million	Football
Josh Allen	16	67 Million+	63 Million	4 Million	Football
Deshaun Watson	21	55.6 Million+	55.5 Million	100 Thousand	Football
Patrick Mahomes	24	49.1 Million+	29.1 Million	20 Million	Football
Kirk Cousins	25	48.5 Million+	46 Million	2.5 Million	Football
Mohamed Salah	33	45 Million+	27 Million	18 Million	Soccer
Kylian Mbappé	35	43 Million+	28 Million	15 Million	Soccer
Marshon Lattimore	38	40.9 Million+	40.8 Million	100 Thousand	Football
Amari Cooper	41	39.4 Million+	38.9 Million	500 Thousand	Football
Dak Prescott	41	39.4 Million+	27.4 Million	12 Million	Football
Ryan Ramczyk	16	38.8 Million+	38.7 Million	100 Thousand	Football
Stefon Diggs	45	38.7 Million+	36.2 Million	2.5 Million	Football
Russell Wilson	46	38 Million+	24 Million	14 Million	Football
T.J.Watt	50	37.6 Million+	36.6 Million	1 Million	Football

Lionel Andrés Messi – The Wealthiest Player

The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is known to all. Although the Argentinian maestro has only played for two clubs in his professional career, there is no doubt that he is one of the greatest players to touch the ball. The Spanish Club FC Barcelona first signed Messi in 2000. He debuted for the senior team of Barcelona in 2004 and played 17 astonishing seasons, winning every major trophy and finally leaving them in 2021 for the French club Paris Saint Germain. Lionel Messi joined PSG on a two-year contract in a $75-80 million per year deal, excluding taxes and bonuses.

Player’s name	Lionel Andrés Messi
Age	35 as of 2023
Current Club	Paris Saint Germain F.C. (PSG)
Career Appearance	974
Career Goals	769
Career Assists	331
Endorsements/Sponsorships	PepsiCo, Adidas, Konami, MasterCard, Cirque du Soleil, and more.

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (known as CR7)

The Brazilian superstar is currently playing for French club Paris Saint Germain and is one of the wealthiest footballers in the world. Neymar, the magician or show-bot, has played for three clubs in his football career so far. Starting his professional career in 2003, he played in the senior team of Brazil’s Santos FC for about eight years. In 2013, the Spanish club signed Neymar in a $64 million deal. The Brazilian dribbler’s extraordinary skills for four seasons at FC Barcelona amazed the world. It was at FC Barcelona where Neymar’s career skyrocketed because people saw him as the next big player after Messi and Ronaldo. However, in 2017, PSG bought Neymar from FC Barcelona in a record-breaking deal worth $222 million. Neymar has been playing for the French club since 2017 and has won eight trophies in just four seasons.

Player’s name	Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro
Age	37 as of 2023
Current Club	Manchester United F.C.
Career Appearance	1,122
Career Goals	815
Career Assists	231
Endorsements/Sponsorships	Nike, Herbalife, Unilever, and more

Neymar Da Silva Santos Júnior

The Brazilian superstar is currently playing for French club Paris Saint Germain and is one of the wealthiest footballers in the world. Neymar, the magician or show-bot, has played for three clubs in his football career so far. Starting his professional career in 2003, he played in the senior team of Brazil’s Santos FC for about eight years. In 2013, the Spanish club signed Neymar in a $64 million deal. The Brazilian dribbler’s extraordinary skills for four seasons at FC Barcelona amazed the world. It was at FC Barcelona where Neymar’s career skyrocketed because people saw him as the next big player after Messi and Ronaldo. However, in 2017, PSG bought Neymar from FC Barcelona in a record-breaking deal worth $222 million. Neymar has been playing for the French club since 2017 and has won eight trophies in just four seasons.

Player’s name	Neymar Da Silva Santos Júnior
Age	30 as of 2023
Current Club	Paris Saint Germain F.C. (PSG)
Career Appearance	699
Career Goals	440
Career Assists	192
Endorsements/Sponsorships	Puma, Triller, Netflix, and more

Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Junior (Known as Tom Brady)

The Californian legend has led his former team New England Patriots, to win 6 Super bowls (National Football League championship). Brady has led the Patriots to all of their World Championships and who are now tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers in terms of the most number of Super Bowls won. Later in 2020, he signed a $50 million contract with Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won another Super bowl, thus winning a total of 7 Super bowls. Moreover, he is the only football player to make it to the team of the decade two times (in the 2000s and 2010s).

Player’s name	Tom Brady
Age	44 as of 2023
Current team	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Career Attempts	11317
Career Passing Completion	6890
Career Touchdown	624
Endorsements/Sponsorships	Hertz Global Holdings, IWC Schaffhausen, Under Armour, and more

John Matthew Stafford (known as Matthew Stafford)

The American quarterback born in Tampa, Florida, recently made it on the Forbes list of Top 50 highest-paid athletes. He started his professional football career as an All-American. Before that, he used to play for his college football team in Georgia. Little did Mathew know he’d be the fastest NFL player to reach 40,000 passing yards. He has also set a record for the “most passing yards in the first 100 games”. Stafford’s contract with the Rams was just for a year in 2021. However, he got a gigantic 4-year contract extension after leading his team to win the Super Bowl last year.

Player’s name	John Mathew Stafford
Age	34 as of 2023
Current team	Los Angeles Rams
Career Attempts	7202
Career Passing Completion	4302
Career Touchdown	337
Endorsements/Sponsorships	Panini, Walt Disney, AT&T, and Fanatics

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Aaron Charles Rodgers

The Californian star quarterback Aaron Charles Rodgers is undoubtedly one of the greatest players. The football player is a four-time NFL most valuable player and a Super Bowl XLV (2011) champion. Rodgers recently signed a contract extension and is expected to receive $150.8 Million by the end of 2024.

Player’s name	Aaron Charles Rodgers
Age	38 as of 2023
Current team	Green Bay Packers
Career Attempts	7188
Career Passing Completion	4298
Career Touchdown	456
Endorsements/Sponsorships	Bose, Panini, Adidas, Zenith, and more

Josh Patrick Allen

Another Californian young star, Joshua Patrick Allen, is currently the highest-earning player of the Buffalo Bills. After he won the Most Valuable Award in college, he was drafted in the first round by Buffalo Bills in 2018. Although he had inconsistent play in the first two years of his career, Allen performed extraordinarily well in 2020, leading his team to their first division title and victory in the playoffs since 1995. In 2021, Joshua Patrick was ranked 10th in the NFL’s top 100 players. Allen signed a six-year contract worth $258 Million, which will expire in 2027.

Player’s name	Josh Patrick Allen
Age	26 as of 2023
Current team	Buffalo Bills
Career Attempts	2,421
Career Passing Completion	1,245
Career Touchdown	135
Endorsements/Sponsorships	PepsiCo, Nike, Anheuser-Busch, and more

Derrick Deshaun Watson

One of the highest-earning football players, Derrick Deshaun Watson, received a five-year contract of $230 million. He plays for the Cleveland Browns.

The entire 2021 season was dull for Watson when he played as the quarterback with his former team, the Texans’ management. Watson started his NFL journey in 2017 with the Texans, but before that, he broke many state records when playing football for Gainseville High School. He also won Davey O’Brien Award in 2015 for being the best college quarterback. He finished his college career with approx. 10,000 passing yards and 90 touchdowns.

Player’s name	Derrick Deshaun Watson
Age	26 as of 2023
Current team	Cleveland Browns
Career Attempts	2,055
Career Passing Completion	1186
Career Touchdown	122

We hope this article will provide insight into the richest footballers in the world. The total average earnings for the top 18 footballers is approx. $60 Million, with an average endorsement amount of approx. $20 Million. All the players in the list above once started with record-breaking deals and huge contracts, but now because of their performance, fan-following, and all the other things combined, it seems like those record-breaking deals are their base price in today’s date. Therefore, it is safe to say that we will be seeing, even more, skyrocketing deals in the future.

Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Lavon Mahomes II is the central quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. Currently, he is the highest-paid player on the team. His father, Pat Mahomes I, was a famous major league baseball pitcher. Patrick Mahomes holds the record for the most touchdown passes in a season (50). Here are a few stats related to the football player:

• Age: 26 as of 2023
• Salary: $29.1 million per year (Estimated)
• Endorsements: $20 million per year
• Endorsements/Sponsorships: Grocery store chain H-E-B, Rolex, and Snickers
• Career Appearance: 63
• Career Passes: 1,550
• Country: USA
• Current Club: Kansas City Chiefs

Kirk Cousins

Kirk Daniel Cousins plays as an American football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at Michigan State. Cousins made his debut in 2012 for the Washington Redskins. The first 3 seasons of his career didn’t go well, and he was not regular in the team. But, since 2015, he got regular chances and was prolific. Cousins was named to the 2017 Pro Bowl. He is ranked third all-time in completion percentage with at least 1500 pass attempts. Here are some stats about the player:

• Age: 33 as of 2023
• Salary: $46 million per year
• Endorsements: $2.5 million per year
• Endorsements/Sponsorships: Adidas, Dapper Labs, Honda Motor, Hy-Vee, Panini, PLB Sports & Entertainment, Sleep Number, Verizon Communications
• Career Appearance: 129
• Career Passes: 2285
• Country: USA
• Current Club: Minnesota Vikings

Mohammad Salah Ghaly (Known as Mo Salah)

The Egyptian legend who plays for Liverpool is currently one of the best strikers in the world. The three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner is also in excellent form this season, as he has already scored 31 goals.

Mohamed Salah started his professional football career in 2010, playing for the Egyptian football club Al Mokawloon. Later, in 2012, he joined the Swiss club, Basel. After winning the league twice with Basel, he joined Chelsea in 2014. In his two-year career at Chelsea, he was loaned twice to Fiorentina and Roma. His great performance at Roma as a lined player made the team buy him from Chelsea in 2016. After playing for one season at Roma, Liverpool bought Mo Salah in 2017 for $44 million. Md Salah’s performance has only grown. At Liverpool as the striker, he played a crucial role in Liverpool’s 2019 Champions League win.

Player’s name	Mohammad Salah Ghaly
Age	30 as of 2023
Current Club	Liverpool F.C.
Career Appearance	505
Career Goals	233
Career Assists	116
Endorsements/Sponsorships	Adidas, Pepsi, Vodafone

Kylian Mbappé Lottin

The 23-year-old world champion, Kylian Mbappé, has achieved almost everything that football players dream of. This remarkable young talent made his professional football debut at the age of 16 in Ligue 1 club Monaco in 2015. The French player showed an outstanding performance at Monaco and caught the eyes of many world-class clubs. In 2017, impressed by Mbappé’s promising talent, PSG bought him from Monaco. Kylian Mbappé is still playing for PSG and will be there for at least three more years.

Player’s name	Kylian Mbappé
Age	23 as of 2023
Current Club	Paris Saint Germain F.C. (PSG)
Career Appearance	361
Career Goals	241
Career Assists	102
Endorsements/Sponsorships	Hublot, Nike, and more

Player’s Stats from NFL and Goal.

Are you a cricket fan? Test your cricket knowledge by playing Cricket Trump cards online on Zupee. Trump Cards Mania is a 2-player game where you challenge your opponent with a stat and win the round by having a higher stat. The player who earns maximum points wins the game and stands a CHANCE TO WIN up to 10 Lakhs! Click on the “Download App” button and start playing games on Zupee.

Who Is The Richest Footballer In The World – FAQs