Lionel Messi had a good year, financially, in 2014.
The Barcelona and Argentina superstar earned an eye-watering $71 million last year in total revenue and tops a soccer rich list produced by France Football.
Messi’s earnings came primarily from his salary at Barcelona ($38 million) but he also made plenty of cash from lucrative sponsorship deals with adidas, EA Sports and Turkish Airlines. He also won the Golden Ball for the best player of the 2014 World Cup and led his nation to the final where they lost to Germany. And even though he didn’t win any silverware with Barcelona, there’s certainly plenty of silver in his bank account.
The 27-year-old Argentine national team captain topped the list ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, as Ronaldo was in second after making $57 million in 2014. Neymar rounded off the top three by bringing home $39.8 million, as the gulf between world soccer’s top two superstars and the rest is rather startling.
Here’s a list of the top 20 highest revenue makers in world soccer, as two players each from Barca, Real Madrid, Manchester United and PSG make the top 10.
Top 20 highest paid players in world soccer
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - $71 million
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 59
3. Neymar (Barcelona) 39.8
4. Thiago Silva (PSG) 30
5. Robin Van Persie (Manchester United) 28
6. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) 26.2
7. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) 24.5
8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG) 23.5
9. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) 23.1
10. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) 22
11. Eden Hazard (Chelsea) and Yaya Toure (Manchester City) 21.8
13. Angel Di Maria (Manchester United) and Radamel Falcao (Manchester United) 20.2
15. Iker Casillas (Real Madrid) 19.4
16. David Silva (Manchester City) and Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) 18.9
18. David Luiz (PSG) 18.7
19. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 18.5
20. Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich) 18.4