We are all aware of the fact that soccer players make a lot of money. However, many of us don’t know exactly how much. Also, the revenue range for all soccer players of the world is huge unlike for many other professions.
Of course, when we mention the richest soccer players, there is one thing to keep in mind – this is not the same as the highest-paid football players in the world. Many of them gained their wealth in combination with other businesses, inheritance, or something else.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
While he may not be the richest, Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most famous soccer players in the world. However, he ranks third with a net worth of £476 million. Being one of the best players of all time, he won numerous awards such as European Golden Shoes and the Ballon d’Or. He also participated in several sports betting partnerships, his favorite being PokerStars which started in 2015. Of course, football betting is extremely popular all over the world, whether you want to pick the winner of a game or try outright betting, like predicting which team will win the World Cup, or who will be the top scorer in the World Cup. In fact, Ronaldo is no stranger to this kind of betting himself, as he backed himself to be La Liga’s top scorer a few years ago, although he had only scored once in 11 games at the time. His 26 goals that season put him firmly in second place, behind Messi’s 34, so we can say that this bet wasn’t where some of his millions came from!
This Portuguese forward is now the captain of both the Saudi Pro League Al Nassr and the Portuguese national team. His greatest rival, Lionel Messi, stands one rank above Ronaldo when it comes to net worth, and when it comes to being loved by the public, it is difficult to say. One thing is for sure, they make each other better as they inspire the other to try harder and do their best, as Ronaldo once said in an interview.
2. Mathieu Flamini
Retired in 2019, this famous former midfielder was most known for his time in Arsenal, despite the fact that he played for five different teams throughout his career. Arsenal almost won the UEFA Championship in 2016, only to lose to Barcelona in the finals.
Flamini had an impressive career, however, his net worth of nearly 10 billion dollars does not stem from it. After he retired, he partnered with another ex-Arsenal player to start a business. They founded ‘GF Biochemicals’, a company that managed to mass produce levulinic acid which is a fuel made from plant waste. Levulinic acid is used to replace oil in the creation process of pharmaceuticals, plastic, etc. All this success happened thanks to Mathieu and his partner who knew to invest in the right people and a lot of research that fueled all that success.
3. Lionel Messi
This legend of Barcelona and the whole world holds second place when it comes to net worth – around 516 million pounds. It is safe to say that he can be considered the number one richest soccer player in the world who earned most of his money playing soccer. Having spent almost twenty years in Barcelona, following a move to Paris Saint Germain, a high income should not come as a surprise.
On the other hand, Messi partnered with Spotify in 2023 which also brought him quite a fortune. Whether he is the world’s number one soccer player or if it is Cristiano Ronaldo, this dynamic duo definitely earned a special place in the soccer charts.
4. David Beckham
This former English soccer player is also one of the most famous of all time. He won six Premier League titles, one Championship League, and 2 FA Cups so it is no wonder that he was one of the most important players Manchester United has ever seen. In 2003, he moved to Real Madrid where he proved himself again in adapting to a new team and an international career. In 2007, he went on to the USA where he played Major League Soccer in the Los Angeles Galaxy. Even though he retired in 2013, he is still very present in the talks of the general public.
He is also popular for making endorsements with famous brands such as Pepsi, Vodafone, Calvin Klein, etc. He has a lifetime partnership signed with Adidas which is why we keep seeing him in the commercials. His net worth is about £450 million, which is actually combined with his wife, Victoria Beckham.
5. Neymar
As we already mentioned Ronaldo and Messi as the greatest active duo there is, it is difficult for anyone to come even close to these two. However, Neymar tries hard, and with a net worth of £198 million, he earned to be the number 3 best soccer player in the past ten years. He began his career in Sao Vicente where his father coached him. After that, he joined Santos FC which was the same club the famous Brazilian soccer player Pepe played for. He almost left Santos at the age of 14 when he passed tryouts for Real Madrid and Santos had to raise their budget to keep him in the team. In 2013, he signed a 5-year contract with Barcelona and, after that, he went on to play for Paris Saint-Germen in 2017. The transfer was around 263 million euros which set a new record of the highest transfer fee. It also made him the highest-paid soccer player in the world at that time.
6. Faiq Bolkiah
This soccer player definitely has the highest net worth of £16 billion. However, the reason for this is a bit unusual and it does not have a lot to do with soccer. This famous soccer player is actually the prince of Brunei and he inherited a great portion of his wealth from his uncle who is among the top 5 richest people in the world. Faiq’s father is known as the family rascal. At one point, he owned around 2,300 cars among which were several Rolls Royces, Bentleys, and Ferraris.
However, young Faiq decided to reject the perks of his royal background and make it on his own. He is pursuing soccer, his true passion. Nobody knows what the future holds for this guy, but he is definitely showing some interesting character.