TheWrap’s World Cup Power Rankings: Top 20 Soccer Players ($$$)

Footballers classified by salary, endorsements, social media presence and major championships

With the United States topping Ghana 2-1 on Monday, it seems like a good a time to unveil our inaugural Wrap FIFA World Cup soccer player power rankings.

The unique and secret proprietary formula — which is less scientific than it hopefully sounds — took into consideration a player’s salary, endorsements, social media footprint and World Cup, Premier League, EUFA and Olympic championship accomplishments. Salary and endorsement data come courtesy of Forbes.

Also read: World Cup Announcer Jonathan Pearce’s Gaffes Set Off Twitter Storm

Here are the rankings of the 20 highest paid footballers in the world. Feel free to duke it out in the comments section below.

cristiano-ronaldo
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Salary: $49 million
Endorsements: $24 million (Nike, Samsung, Tag Heuer)
Twitter Followers: 26.8 million
Facebook Likes: 85.2 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 3
EUFA League Medals: 2
Olympic Medals: 0

Lionel Messi 2. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Salary: $42 million
Endorsements: $23 million (Adidas, Samsung, Pepsi)
Twitter Followers: 1.95 million
Facebook Likes: 58 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 3 (injured for 2006 finals)
Olympic Medals: 1 (Gold, 2008)

Also read: USA-Ghana Nets Highest World Cup Ratings Ever on ESPN

Sergio Aguero

3. Sergio Aguero (Argentina)
Salary: $17 million
Endorsements: $4 million (Puma, Pepsi, Gillette)
Twitter Followers: 5.82 million
Facebook Likes: 5.8 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 2
EUFA League Medals: 0
Olympic Medals: 1 (2008 Gold)

Neymar Jr

4. Neymar Jr (Brazil)
Salary: $12 million
Endorsements: $16 million (Nike, Castrol, Panasonic)
Twitter Followers: 11.1 million
Facebook Likes: 24.7 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 0
Olympic Medals: 1 (2012 Silver)

Also read: Univision Tops ESPN in Viewers for World Cup Opener

kakà

5. Kaka (Brazil)
Salary: $10 million
Endorsements: $5 million (Adidas, Hyundai)
Twitter Followers: 19.2 million
Facebook Likes: 28.9 million
World Cup Championships: 1
Premier League Medals: 2
EUFA League Medals: 1
Olympic Medals: 0

David Silva

6. David Silva (Spain)
Salary: $15 million
Endorsements: $1 million (Adidas)
Twitter Followers: 2.66 million
Facebook Likes: 935,000
Major Championships: 1
Premier League Medals: 2
EUFA League Medals: 0
Olympic Medals: 0

Also read: World Cup Brazil vs. Croatia Opener Scores Biggest Ratings Since 1998

Wayne Rooney

7. Wayne Rooney (England)
Salary: $18 million
Endorsements: $4 million (Nike, Samsung, HarperCollins)
Twitter Followers: 8.9 million
Facebook Likes: 21.1 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 5
EUFA League Medals: 1
Olympic Medals: 0

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

8. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
Salary: $30 million
Endorsements: $4 million (Nike, Volvo)
Twitter Followers: 1.32 million
Facebook Likes: 16.2 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 0
Olympic Medals: 0

See photos: Hollywood Kickin’ It at the World Cup: Pitbull, Jennifer Lopez, Leonardo DiCaprio

Gareth Bale

9. Gareth Bale (Wales)
Salary: $15 million
Endorsements: $9 million (Adidas, EA Sports)
Twitter Followers: 3.6 million
Facebook Likes: 17.2 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 1
Olympic Medals: 0

Robin Van Persie

10. Robin Van Persie (Netherlands)
Salary: $16 million
Endorsements: $3 million (Adidas, Pepsi)
Twitter Followers: 5.2 million
Facebook Likes: 9.3 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 1
EUFA League Medals: 0
Olympic Medals: 0

See video: CNN Reporter Hit by Tear Gas During Live Broadcast of World Cup Protest

Fernando Torres

11. Fernando Torres (Spain)
Salary: $17 million
Endorsements: $3 million
Twitter Followers: 1.91 million
Facebook Likes: 264,900
World Cup Championships: 1
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 1
Olympic Medals: 0

Frank Lampard

12. Frank Lampard (England)
Salary: $12 million
Endorsements: $4 million (Adidas, Pepsi)
Twitter Followers: N/A
Facebook Likes: 15,400
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 3
EUFA League Medals: 1
Olympic Medals: 0

See video: World Cup Fanatic John Oliver Compares FIFA to Walter White, Promises The USA Team Will Be ‘Humiliated’

Yaya Toure

13. Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
Salary: $18 million
Endorsements: $3 million (Puma)
Twitter Followers: 55,300
Facebook Likes: 265,700
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 2
EUFA League Medals: 1
Olympic Medals: 0

Mesut Ozil

14. Mesut Ozil (Germany)
Salary: $10 million
Endorsements: $6 million (Adidas)
Twitter Followers: 5.99 million
Facebook Likes: 20 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 0
Olympic Medals: 0

Also read: Landon Donovan Joins ESPN as Analyst for 2014 FIFA World Cup

Luis Suarez

15. Luis Suarez (Uruguay)
Salary: $11 million
Endorsements: $4 million (Adidas, Pepsi)
Twitter Followers: 2.77 million
Facebook Likes: 6.7 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 0
Olympic Medals: 0

Radamel Falcao

16. Radamel Falcao (Colombia)
Salary: $23 million
Endorsements: $3 million (Puma, Samsung, Gillette)
Twitter Followers: 5.03 million
Facebook Likes: 10,600
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 0
Olympic Medals: 0

Also read: World Cup Brazil vs. Croatia: By the Social Media Numbers

Franck Ribery

17. Franck Ribery (France)
Salary: $17 million
Endorsements: $1 million
Twitter Followers: 38,500
Facebook Likes: 91,200
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 1
Olympic Medals: 0

Bastian Schweinsteiger

18. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
Salary: $13 million
Endorsements: $3 million (Adidas)
Twitter Followers: 421,000
Facebook Likes: 3.8 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 1
Olympic Medals: 0

Also read: ESPN’s Bob Ley on Landon Donovan, World Cup Coverage: Prepare for Some ‘Pretty Neat Sh-t’

Steven Gerrard

19. Steven Gerrard (England)
Salary: $13 million
Endorsements: $4 million (Adidas)
Twitter Followers: 78,800
Facebook Likes: 1.3 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 1
Olympic Medals: 0

Philipp Lahm

20. Philipp Lahm (Germany)
Salary: $13 million
Endorsements: $2 million (Adidas)
Twitter Followers: 21,000
Facebook Likes: 2.9 million
World Cup Championships: 0
Premier League Medals: 0
EUFA League Medals: 1
Olympic Medals: 0

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