Cristiano Ronaldo, Getty Images October 22, 2025, 3:47 p.m

Cristiano Ronaldo topped the list of the most marketable football players in the world according to SportsPro Media in 2025, ahead of Lionel Messi, Neymar and other world football stars. This was reported by Goal with reference to the 16th annual SportsPro 50 Most Marketable Athletes 2025 rating.

In the overall rating, Ronaldo took fifth place, becoming the highest rated representative of the football world. Only representatives of other sports were above him: Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton, legendary gymnast Simone Biles, canoeist Ilona Maher and NBA basketball player Steph Curry.

The SportsPro 50MM rating evaluates athletes on a 100-point commercial attractiveness scale consisting of three main components:

Brand Strength — recognition and reputation of the athlete;

Addressable market (Total Addressable Market) — audience size and potential impact;

Economics — commercial efficiency, partnerships and media activity.

A total of 18 footballers are in the top 50, including Neymar (6th), Robert Lewandowski (11th), Kylian Mbappe (13th), Vinicius Jr. (14th) and Lionel Messi (16th).

At the same time, several big names fell in the ranking: in particular, Jude Bellingham lost 66 positions and ended up outside the top 50, along with Erling Holland, Cole Palmer and Kevin De Bruyne.