The highest-paid footballers in the world

Who are the highest-paid footballers in the world?

Unsurprisingly, there's plenty of crossover between the best players in the world right now and the best-paid, with superstars capable of deciding games commanding the best pay packets.

But naturally, there are those who aren't necessarily the world's greatest among the big-hitters on the rich-list – particularly if they're already on the decline and earning a big pay-day on another continent.

Our list of the best-paid in the world starts with a certain Cristiano Ronaldo, who earns way more than second-place, picking up millions of pounds a week, according to sources – and that's more than Lionel Messi, too, who isn't on the list at all.

That's an important point to make: this list purely accounts for the base wage of every footballer, excluding win bonuses, goal bonuses and the like, with sponsorship deals not counted, either… and with Messi thought to bearning tons from off-the-pitch ventures in the United States (including his stake in Apple TV, who broadcast Major League Soccer), his actual on-field salary isn't that much.

Well… relatively: you can find out how much you earn in comparison to your heroes above with our very own salary calculator, as we tell you how quickly it would take the likes of Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, or even the average League One players or David Beckham 20 years ago, to earn how much you do.

Scroll down, too, below, as you can view the entire list in a chart and isolate the leagues you care about with the legend at the bottom: just hover over a dot to see how much a player earns, too.

The full list

The highest-paid footballers in the world