Forbes Have Released Their List For The Highest-Paid Footballers In 2020

It's the age-old debate: Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo.

But when it comes to cashing cheques, the Argentine just edged it past his Portuguese rival in 2020.

Forbes have released their list for the highest-paid footballers in the world - and there's no surprises at who comes in at first and second.

Six-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi, who became football's second ever billionaire this year, topped the rich list for 2020 after raking in a reported AU$172million - he can thank the likes of Adidas and Pespi for that.

Hot on his tail was Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo who pocketed around $160m thanks to his mega-money endorsement with Nike and his astronomical wages at the Serie A heavyweights.

Paris Saint-Germain duo Neymar and Kylian Mbappe came in at third and fourth respectively.

While they both have massive deals with sportswear giants Puma and Nike, it's understood the majority of their earnings come from their extortionate salaries in the French capital thanks to PSG's big-spending Qatari owners.

Coming just inside the top five is recently-crowned Premier League champion Mohamed Salah who earned a reported $51m at Liverpool last season.

Forbes explained their methodology for the list on their website, saying: "To compile our list, we spoke with clubs, players' agents, commercial sponsors and soccer experts in the U.S. and Europe. All figures are converted to U.S. dollars and include soccer salaries for the 2020-21 season, bonuses and endorsements. Transfer fees are excluded. Earnings are pretax."

Forbes' highest-paid footballers in 2020 (all figures in Australian dollars):

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona): $172m

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus): $160m

3. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain): $131m

4. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain): $57.6m

5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool): $51m

6. Paul Pogba (Manchester United): $46.6m

7. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona): $45m

8. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid): $39.7m

9. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich): $38.4m

10. David De Gea (Manchester United): $37m

Topics: Football, Neymar, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah, Australia, Cristiano Ronaldo

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry