Highest Paid Players in World Cup 2014
Ronaldo and Messi tops the list of highest paid players going to FIFA World Cup 2014 while Yaya Toure, Thiago Silva, Luis Suarez and Eden Hazard also makes the list.
World Cup will be starting tommorrow and althoug some big names will be missing in the world cup we do have some top players representing their national teams for world cup glory. Today we take a look at 10 of the highest paid footballers playing in the FIFA World Cup 2014. As expected Lionel Messi and Ronaldo top the list with massive after tax weekly salaries but on paper Rooney is paid more with £300,000 a week salary.
Note: Lionel Messi and Ronaldo has a special deal with their respective clubs as they are getting paid with “after tax” salary (you can read more about how much footballers are paying tax in different countries). While all other players in the list get salary before tax.
| PLAYER | Weekly Salary | Endorsements | |
| 1 |  Lionel Messi |
£292,000 (After Tax) | EA Sports, Adidas, Turkish Arilines, Gillette, Pepsi |
| 2 |  Ronaldo |
£288,000 (after Tax) | Konami, Nike, Coca Cola, Castrol,herbalife,kfc, armani, emirates |
| 3 |  Wayne Rooney |
£300,000 | Harper Collins, Nike, EA Sports, Coca-Cola |
| 4 |  Robin Van Persie |
£250,000 | Adidas, BT Sport, Pepsi |
| 5 |  Thiago Silva |
£250,000 | Nike |
| 6 |  Yaya Toure |
£240,000 | Puma, Ford |
| 7 |  Sergio Aguero |
£230,000 | Puma, Pepsi |
| 8 |  Neymar |
£230,000 | Nike, Volkswagon, Coca Cola |
| 9 |  Luis Suarez |
£220,000 | Adidas |
| 10 |  David Silva |
£200,000 | Nike |
| 11 |  Eden Hazard |
£185,000 | Nke |
| 12 |  Fernando Torres |
£175,000 | Adidas |
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Endorsement Earnings:
All the big name footballers have multiple endorsement deals which add to their earnings. Ronaldo and Messi were listed in the top 10 highest earner athletes in Forbest richlist in 2013-14.
Ronaldo makes as much money off the field as he does with his real madrid salary while Lionel Messi also has many endorsement deals. Ronaldo and Messi rivalry is not only on the pitch, but all the big brands use their image rights to get the better of each other.
If Ronaldo is the face of Nike, Messi is the most prominent Adidas sponsor. Messi is seen on cover of EA Sports FIFA and Ronaldo appear on rival game series Pro Evolution Soccer. If Messi fly with Turkish airlines, Ronaldi does it with Emirates. If messi wants you to drink Pepsi, Ronaldo help sell Coca Cola.
This makes Ronaldo and Messi by far the highest earners in the list while Rooney is also has special ties with many big brands. But other players have 1 or max two endorsement deals max as they are not as marketable as Messi and Ronaldo are.
