The World Cup Russia 2018: Football players with the highest earnings
The FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 will not only have great football players, but it will also feature millionaire stars according to Forbes' latest publication on the athletes who generated the most income in the last year. Lionel Messi surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar with over 110 million dollars.
American boxer Floyd Mayweather is the highest-paid athlete in the world in the last year, with 285 million dollars in prizes. Mayweather, 41 years old, topped the annual ranking for the fourth time in seven years with just one fight, his controversial duel in August 2017 in Las Vegas against mixed martial arts (MMA) star Conor McGregor, who received 99 million and ranked fourth.
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Thanks to the sum of 550 million from that mega fight, Mayweather, nicknamed "Money," earned more in one night than in the twelve months than football stars Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona, 111 million including 84 million in salary) and Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, 108 million including 61 in salary), who respectively occupy the second and third places. Ronaldo topped the ranking two years ago.
Brazilian Neymar ranks 5th (Paris SG with 90 million), ahead of NBA superstar LeBron James (Cleveland, 85.5 million) and Swiss tennis player Roger Federer (77.2 million). Other football players listed in the ranking who will be in Russia 2018 are Paul Pogba in 52nd place (France; $29.5 M.), Luis Suarez in 60th place (Uruguay; $26.9 M.), and Sergio Aguero in 86th place (Argentina; $23 M.).
With this data, Argentina is the national team that will play the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 with the most players in the prestigious Forbes list, with two representatives and a total amount of 134 million dollars between Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero. Meanwhile, three other football players who will not be in the World Cup are also included in the list: Gareth Bale (Wales; 35th place; $34.6 M.), Oscar (Brazil; 56th place; $27.4 M.), and Wayne Rooney (England; 58th place; $27 M.).
OTHER INTERESTING FACTS
- For the first time since 2010, no women are included in this ranking.
- In total, the top 100 athletes received 3.8 billion dollars in earnings.
- The United States is the most represented country with 66 athletes in this top 100.
- Eleven different sports are represented, with the NBA dominating this top 100 with 40 players.
- The NFL (American football) has 18, followed by Major League Baseball with 14 players, football (9), golf (5), tennis, and boxing (4 each).