Two new billionaires lead a starting 11 that collectively hauled in an estimated US$950 million in the 12 months leading up to soccer’s biggest tournament.
There are many firsts at this year’s FIFA World Cup. For the first time in the tournament’s 96-year history, there will be 48 teams. It’s also the first World Cup to be held across three countries (the United States, Canada and Mexico), in a record 16 cities.
And it will be the first to feature a billionaire player—actually two—with 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo captaining Portugal and 38-year-old Lionel Messi leading Argentina in its title defense.
Then again, with ticket prices in the stratosphere, billionaires may be the only ones who can afford to attend. FIFA recently listed a ticket for the July 19 final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium for $32,970, triple the price from a ticket drop in April—and more than 20 times what the equivalent ticket cost for the 2022 final in Qatar. And even the world’s richest might have to think twice about buying tickets on the secondary market. In April, FIFA’s resale site listed four seats to the final for a little less than $2.3 million each. (Section 124, Row 45, Seats 33-36, if you’re scalping at home.)
Here are the 11 highest-paid players competing at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The World Cup’s Highest-Paid Players
#1. US$300 million a year
Cristiano Ronaldo
Nationality: Portugal | Age: 41 | On-Field: $235 million • Off-Field: $65 million
Ronaldo is not only soccer’s highest-paid player but the world’s top-earning athlete from any sport, an honor he has claimed for four years straight. The 41-year-old Portuguese forward’s estimated $300 million in income over the past 12 months ties him with boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the largest haul by an athlete ever measured by Forbes (without accounting for inflation), and he is the only athlete to have surpassed $2 billion in career earnings while still active in his sport. It all adds up to a net worth Forbes now estimates at $1.2 billion, making Ronaldo one of only four active athletes inducted into the three-comma club. He heads into his sixth World Cup still seeking his first title in the competition—the rare missing hardware in his GOAT-worthy trophy case—but he has momentum. Last month, he helped Al-Nassr secure the Saudi Pro League championship, his first such triumph since he arrived in the Middle East in 2023.
#2. US$140 million a year
Lionel Messi
Nationality: Argentina | Age: 38 | On-Field: $70 million • Off-Field: $70 million
Like his longtime rival Ronaldo, Messi recently joined Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires, with a net worth estimated at $1.1 billion. Also like Ronaldo—as well as Guillermo Ochoa of Mexico—Messi will be appearing in his sixth World Cup, a record. But as Argentina tries to replicate its run from 2022 and capture its fourth title overall, the star Inter Miami forward, who turns 39 on June 24, is poised to set another all-time high all on his own. With four goals this summer, Messi would pass Miroslav Klose’s 16 for the most in World Cup history. Regardless of how he performs, however, Messi will be at the center of marketing campaigns around the tournament, appearing in new commercials for Adidas (with Bad Bunny and Timothée Chalamet) and Michelob Ultra (with Christian Pulisic and Billy Bob Thornton). Lowe’s is also selling a ten-foot-tall inflatable Messi for $99.
Click here to read the complete, original article on Forbes.com
Source: Forbes.com
