Lionel Messi Becomes Football’s Second Billionaire As He Fends Off Competition From Cristiano Ronaldo To Top Forbes’ List Of High Earners

Barcelona star, Lionel Messi has become football’s second billionaire after Cristiano Ronaldo previously achieved the feat back in June. 

According to Forbes, the Argentine has now earned $1billion in pre-tax earnings during his career, making him the highest-earning player in 2020 

The magazine reports that the Argentina international is set to earn a whopping $126million (salary of $92million plus $34million in endorsements). 

Messi has endorsement deals with Adidas, Pepsi, Budweiser, and AI-vision company OrCam Technologies. 

Ronaldo is in second place on Forbes’ list with the Juventus attacker on course to earn $117million. The Portuguese striker who is the most popular athlete in the world has deals with companies like Nike and Herbalife many more. 

In third is Paris Saint-Germain winger Neymar, who is set to earn $96million. The Brazil international recently switched to Puma after his deal with Nike came to an end. 

See the top 10 on Forbes’ highest-paid players in 2020.