Barcelona's Lionel Messi beats Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid as world football's top earner.
The La Liga pair are still behind the likes of US golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, but earn more than the Premier League's top-paid star Wayne Rooney of Manchester United.
Messi has been confirmed as the best-paid footballer in the world, having picked up $43.8-million (R297-m) in the last year, according to America's Sports Illustrated 'Fortunate 50' list.
The Argentinian, who is widely acknowledged as the greateat player on the planet, came out above Ronaldo and Rooney in the list, who earned �27.1-million (R263-m) and �23-million (R223-m) respectively.
The �Fortunate 50� takes into account the earnings, endorsements, bonuses and appearance fees of leading sports stars.
Tiger Woods is leading the way � earning a staggering �46-million (R446-m) last year, though that was down �20m on his previous year�s earnings.
Despite being the highest earning footballer, Messi only came seventh on the overall sporting list, behind the likes of Formula One driver Fernando Alonso, who is a Real Madrid supporter himself.
Below are the footballers who made the international top 20, with figures given from the recently-completed season.
Rank, Player, Amount Earned (USD)
1 Lionel Messi, $43,800,000
2 Cristiano Ronaldo, $38,800,000
3 Wayne Rooney, $29,200,000
4 Kaka, $27,300,000
5 David Beckham, $26,800,000
6 Ronaldinho, $25,800,000
7 Carlos Tevez, $21,700,000
8 Frank Lampard, $20,100,000
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