Women’s soccer is one of the fastest growing sports around.
Huge TV audiences now tune in for the biggest matches, its fanbase is on the rise, and many female players are now worldwide stars, recognized for their supreme skill on the pitch and for being role-models away from it.
However, there are certainly still unfair discrepancies between the men’s and women’s games – with salaries being the biggest.
To see how much the richest female soccer players are paid per year, as well as how their salaries compare with the highest earning men’s players, take a look below…
10. Christine Sinclair – $380,000 Salary
In tenth place on the list is Christine Sinclair, the Canadian forward who has been voted the Canadian Soccer Player of the Year no fewer than 14 times, winning last in 2018.
She’s played for the Portland Thorns since 2013, notching up over 130 appearances, plus she has played over 290 times for her country.
Despite her huge success and clear talents, Sinclair only earns $380,000 per year – that’s 63x less than David De Gea, the tenth highest paid male footballer, who has a salary of $24 million per year.
9. Wendie Renard – $392,000 Salary
Next on the list is Wendie Renard, a French defence player and captain of Olympique Lyonnais.
She’s won 14 league titles in France, as well as seven European Cups. Renard has played over 120 times for France and is also the captain of the national team.
Despite this impressive list, she takes home wages worth $392,000 per year from her domestic club, which is far less than the night highest paid male footballer.
Robert Lewandowski earns $24 million per year – 61x more than Renard.
8. Amandine Henry – $394,500 Salary
In eighth place is another French player who also plays for Olympique Lyonnaise.
Amandine Henry is a defensive midfielder who moved to Lyon in 2018 – the club she also played for from 2007 to 2016.
She has over 90 caps for France, and she has played for the national team at many levels, from U17 through to the senior team.
Henry earns a salary of $394,500 per year from Lyon.
The eighth highest earning male player is Liverpool’s Mo Salah, who earns $24 million, which is 61x the amount earned by Henry.
7. Marta – $400,000 Salary
Next on the list is one of the greatest female soccer players of all time – Marta.
The Brazilian forward has played over 150 times for her country, scoring over 100 goals in the process. She has played for many clubs in her career, but now appears for Orlando Pride in the NWSL.
Marta has a salary of $400,000 per year in Orlando.
The seventh highest earning male player is Paul Pogba, who earns $28 million per year at Manchester United, which is 70x more than Marta takes home.
6. Ada Hegerberg – $425,000 Salary
Ada Hegerberg, a striker for the Olympique Lyonnaise team, is the sixth highest paid female soccer player in the world.
Hegerberg is also the all-time top scorer in the UEFA Women’s Champions League, has over 65 caps for Norway and has scored 38 international goals.
When it comes to Hegerberg’s pay packet, she earns $425,000 per year in Lyon.
The sixth highest earning male player is Paul Pogba, who has a salary of $28 million per year, which is 66x more than Hegerberg earns.
5. Julie Ertz – $430,000 Salary
Next up is Julie Ertz, who plays for the Chicago Red Stars, as well as the United States.
At the time of writing, the 28-year-old has had 108 appearances and scored 20 goals for the US. She’s also won two World Cups and was named the US Soccer Female Player of the Year in 2015.
Ertz earns a salary of $430,000 a year in Chicago.
The fifth highest paid male player in the world is PSG’s Kylian Mbappe, who earns $28 million per year, which is 65x what Ertz is paid.
4. Megan Rapinoe – $447,000 Salary
Megan Rapinoe is one of the best-known players in the world.
The US international has played 173 times for her country, scoring 57 times and winning two World Cups.
She plays for OL Reign, having signed with them back in 2013. She won both the Golden Boot and the Golden Ball at the 2019 Women’s World Cup.
Rapinoe earns $447,000 per year playing for OL Reign.
In comparison, the fourth highest earning male player, Andres Iniesta, earns $30 million per year playing in Japan, which is 64x more than Rapinoe.
3. Alex Morgan – $450,000 Salary
The third highest paid female soccer player in the world is Alex Morgan, who recently moved back to Orlando Pride after a short spell in England with Tottenham Hotspur.
She has played 173 times for the US, scoring 108 goals so far, and has won the World Cup twice, being chosen as a member of the Dream Team on both occasions.
Currently, Morgan earns $450,000 a year in Orlando.
The third highest paid male football player is Cristiano Ronaldo, who earns $70 million a year at Juventus – a shocking 156x more than Morgan earns.
2. Samantha Kerr – $500,000 Salary
Sam Kerr is the second highest paid female soccer star in the world.
The Australian forward currently plays for Chelsea, having moved there in 2019.
She’s also an Australian international with 88 caps and 42 goals. She has played in three World Cups, as well as in two Olympics.
Currently, Kerr earns a salary of $500,000 per year at Chelsea. T
he second highest paid male footballer in the world is Neymar, who earns $78 million a year, which is 156x more than Kerr.
1. Carli Lloyd – $518,000 Salary
The highest paid female footballer in the world is Carli Lloyd.
At the time of writing, Lloyd has played an unbelievable 299 times for the US national team, scoring 124 goals in the process.
She’s won two World Cups and two Olympic gold medals. She currently plays for Sky Blue FC in the NWSL.
Lloyd earns a salary of $518,000 per year at Sky Blue FC.
The highest paid male footballer in the world is Lionel Messi, who earns $92 million a year at Barcelona, which is 178x more than Lloyd earns.
Unequal Pay
While women’s soccer is growing in popularity, the players’ salaries do not reflect this.
As we’ve seen in this article, the salary difference between male and female players is unbelievable. The highest earning female player does not even get paid a fraction of what the lowest paid male player earns.
Equality’s still got a hell of a long way to go…
For more rich lists, check out:
Lead image: Flickr/appaIoosa, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
