Among the Top 10 Highest Paid Athletes 2019 highlight, Lionel Messi emerged as the World Richest Football Player 2019 followed by Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.

World Richest Football Player 2019
  1.     Lionel Messi: $127M
  2.     Cristiano Ronaldo: $109M
  3.     Neymar: $105M
  4.     Canelo Alvarez: $94M
  5.     Roger Federer: $93.4M
  6.     Russell Wilson: $89.5M
  7.     Aaron Rodgers: $89.3M
  8.     LeBron James: $89M
  9.     Stephen Curry: Stephen Curry
  10.     Kevin Durant: $65.4M
Since his Barcelona debut in 2003, Messi has played 687 matches for his club, scored 603 goals, and won 33 club titles, including 10 La Liga titles.

His current Barcelona contract is through 2020-21 and pays him over $80 million annually. He also has a lifelong deal with Adidas.

He has been awarded FIFA's Player of the Year five times and won the European Golden Shoe for top scorer on the continent a record six times.

In 2016, he was convicted of tax fraud in Spain for avoiding income tax between 2007 and 2009. His 21-month sentence was cut to a $250,000 fine.

Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both Barcelona and the Argentina national team.

Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards,[note 2] four of which he won consecutively, and a record six European Golden Shoes.

He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won a club-record 34 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and six Copas del Rey.

A prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (419), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists in La Liga (169) and the Copa América (11). He has scored over 695 senior career goals for club and country.