Ronaldo tops list of World Cup highest paid players

Cristiano Ronaldo

Rio de Janeiro, June 19 (IANS/EFE) Real Madrid's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo tops Forbes magazine's list of highest paid footballers in the FIFA World Cup.

Ronaldo, who is paid $80 million a year, came ahead of Barcelona's Argentine striker Lionel Messi, who earns $64.7 million, reports EFE.

List of top-10 highest-paid players now participating in World Cup:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) (Real Madrid) $80 million

2. Lionel Messi (Argentina) (Barcelona) $64.7 million

3. Neymar (Brazil) (Barcelona) $33.6 million

4. Wayne Rooney (England) (Manchester United) $23.4 million

5. Sergio Aguero (Argentina) (Manchester City) $23.3 million

6. Yaya Toure (Cote d'Ivoire) (Manchester City) $21.7 million

7. Fernando Torres (Spain) (Chelsea) $21.3 million

8. Robin van Persie (Netherlands) (Manchester United) $19.5 million

9. Steven Gerrard (England) (Liverpool) $18.7 million

10. Mesut Ozil (Germany) (Arsenal) $18.5 million