{"id":268854,"date":"2026-05-13T02:30:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T02:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/268854\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T02:30:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T02:30:25","slug":"inter-miami-superstar-lionel-messi-continues-to-lead-mls-salary-ranks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/268854\/","title":{"rendered":"Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi continues to lead MLS salary ranks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Toronto FC midfielder Alonso Coello, left, defends Lionel Messi during Inter Miami’s victory at BMO Field on May 9.Nick Turchiaro\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Inter Miami star Lionel Messi continues to lead Major League Soccer with a guaranteed salary of $28.3-million (all figures in U.S. dollars) this season, according to figures released Tuesday by the MLS Players Association.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s up from the $20.5-million the 38-year-old Argentine made last year.<\/p>\n

But Messi\u2019s MLS paycheque is just part of his income. Forbes estimated the eight-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner earned $135-million in 2025. The magazine had Messi fifth on its list of the world\u2019s highest-paid athletes, sandwiched between Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James.<\/p>\n

Toronto lost to Messi, but \u2018world-class\u2019 BMO Field nailed its World Cup test run<\/a><\/p>\n

Forbes had 41-year-old Portugal soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo No. 1 at $275-million, thanks in large part to a bumper salary at Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr. <\/p>\n

South Korean winger Heung-min Son of Los Angeles FC remains second in MLS pay at $11.2-million. Inter Miami\u2019s Argentine midfielder Rodrigo De Paul comes in at No. 3 at $9.7-million.<\/p>\n

San Diego FC\u2019s Mexican winger Hirving (Chucky) Lozano ranks fourth at $9.3-million with Atlanta United\u2019s Paraguayan winger Miguel Almiron fifth at $7.9-million.<\/p>\n

U.S. international striker Josh Sargent and German icon Thomas Muller are the top earners on Canadian teams, with Sargent making $5.3-million for Toronto FC and Muller $5.2-million with the Vancouver Whitecaps.<\/p>\n

Spanish attacking midfielder Ivan Jaime leads the CF Montreal salary ranks at $2.1-million.<\/p>\n

Other TFC players making in excess of $1-million are playmaker Djordje Mihailovic ($2.8-million), centre back Walker Zimmerman ($1.7-million), midfielder Jose Cifuentes ($1.6-million), winger Daniel Salloi ($1.3-million), fullback Richie Laryea ($1.2-million) and captain\/midfielder Jonathan Osorio ($1.1-million).<\/p>\n

Where to watch the World Cup in Toronto and Vancouver<\/a><\/p>\n

Vancouver attacking midfielder Ryan Gauld is making $3.7-million this season. Other Whitecaps with seven-figure salaries are winger Cheikh Sabaly and defender Sam Adekugbe (both $1.4-million), defensive midfielder Andres Cubas, winger Emmanuel Sabbi and centre back Mathias Laborda (all $1.2-million) and striker Brian White ($1.1-million).<\/p>\n

Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, tied for second in the league with seven assists, is a bargain at $480,000.<\/p>\n

Ghanaian forward Prince Owusu ($1.3-million) is the only other Montreal player making more than $1-million.<\/p>\n

Canadian midfielder Stephen Eustaquio\u2019s salary at LAFC is $1.8-million. Dayne St. Clair earns $808,730 at Inter Miami while fellow Canadian \u2018keeper Maxime Crepeau is getting $600,000 at Orlando City.<\/p>\n

Other Canadians south of the border include LAFC\u2019s Mathieu Choiniere ($725,000), Chicago\u2019s Joel Waterman ($598,150), Austin FC\u2019s Jayden Nelson ($554,000), LAFC\u2019s Jacob Shaffelburg ($520,000), Portland\u2019s James Pantemis ($320,833), Seattle\u2019s Osaze De Rosario ($315,000), St. Louis\u2019 Kyle Hiebert ($289,000) and LAFC\u2019s Ryan Raposo ($220,000).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Toronto FC midfielder Alonso Coello, left, defends Lionel Messi during Inter Miami’s victory…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[10655,10647,10656,749,5526,10657,9984,10641,10651,10652,10649,10642,10640,740,113,1563,6533,10646,10668,10643,10644,2161,10648,555,266,10658,123,125,124,5741,10663,10664,10666,10661,10665,10659,10662,324,6798,10654,99,10653,10660,1237,1576,107,10650,4278,10645,10667],"class_list":["post-268854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}