Eight goals in a World Cup at 39 years old. Lionel Messi isn't just still playing — he's currently the tournament's top scorer, one ahead of Mbappé and Haaland, with Argentina into the knockout rounds after a nervy 3-2 win over Egypt in Atlanta.
He scored the equaliser in the 83rd minute against Egypt, four minutes after teeing up Cristian Romero. Enzo Fernandez got the winner in the 92nd. Classic Argentina — barely surviving, but surviving.
What Messi actually earns
The on-pitch story is well-documented at this point. The financial one is worth understanding too, because it reframes how you think about where his career goes from here.
His Inter Miami base salary sits at $25 million, with total guaranteed MLS compensation of around $28.3 million. That's before you touch the endorsements. Adidas alone pays roughly $25 million annually under a lifetime deal signed in 2017 — a contract structure that will keep paying him long after he stops playing. PepsiCo, Hard Rock International, Mastercard, and Konami's eFootball round out a portfolio that generates approximately $70 million per year in off-field income.
Then there's Apple. When Messi joined Miami in 2023, he negotiated a revenue share on new MLS Season Pass subscribers — a deal that looked unusual at the time and now looks visionary. Apple picked up 110,000 new Season Pass subscribers on the day of his debut alone, up from just 6,143 the day before. That's a single player moving a streaming product more than any marketing campaign could.
He's one of four active athletes to cross the billion-dollar earnings threshold alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Tiger Woods, and LeBron James. A club career that started at Barcelona's academy in 2000 — 35 titles, four Champions Leagues, ten LaLigas — ended awkwardly in 2021 when the financial collapse forced his exit. PSG followed. Then Miami.
What this World Cup means for the betting picture
Argentina's odds to win the tournament shorten every time Messi scores, and with him top of the Golden Boot standings, opposing defenses are going to keep collapsing his way in the quarters. Golden Boot markets still have him ahead of Mbappé and Haaland — both on seven — but the gap is thin enough that one quiet game changes everything.
He lifted the World Cup in 2022 to end the longest wait in modern football history. Now, at an age when most players are retired or winding down in second-tier leagues, he's eight goals into another tournament run. Whatever happens next, the Argentina vs. Golden Boot double is the most interesting bet left on the board.
