The Highest-Paid Players At The 2026 World Cup
Key takeaways
- Sports Money Daily Cover The Highest-Paid Players At The 2026 World Cupillustration by Alice Lagarde for Forbes; photos by Xavier Laine/Getty images; Nur Photo/getty images; LUIS ROBAYO/getty images;
- Two new billionaires lead a starting 11 that collectively hauled in an estimated $950 million in the 12 months leading up to soccer’s biggest tournament.There are many firsts at this year’s FIFA World Cup.
- Then again, with ticket prices in the stratosphere, billionaires may be the only ones who can afford to attend.
Sports Money Daily Cover The Highest-Paid Players At The 2026 World Cupillustration by Alice Lagarde for Forbes; photos by Xavier Laine/Getty images; Nur Photo/getty images; LUIS ROBAYO/getty images; Stuart Franklin/getty images By Brett Knight,
Two new billionaires lead a starting 11 that collectively hauled in an estimated $950 million in the 12 months leading up to soccer’s biggest tournament.There are many firsts at this year’s FIFA World Cup. For the first time in the tournament’s 96-year history, there will be 48 teams. It’s also the first World Cup to be held across three countries (the United States, Canada and Mexico), in a record 16 cities. And it will be the first to feature a billionaire player—actually two—with 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo captaining Portugal and 38-year-old Lionel Messi leading Argentina in its title defense.
Then again, with ticket prices in the stratosphere, billionaires may be the only ones who can afford to attend. FIFA recently listed a ticket for the July 19 final at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium for $32,970, triple the price from a ticket drop in April—and more than 20 times what the equivalent ticket cost for the 2022 final in Qatar. And even the world’s richest might have to think twice about buying tickets on the secondary market. In April, FIFA’s resale site listed four seats to the final for a little less than $2.3 million each. (Section 124, Row 45, Seats 33-36, if you’re scalping at home.)