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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Sophia Vesely

Top 10 MLS Salaries in 2026: Lionel Messi Earns Giant Pay Raise

The MLS Players Association released the annualized salaries for each player in the league for the first time in 2026, and Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi remains the league’s highest-paid player for the third year in a row and earned a huge pay raise.

The salaries, released Tuesday, are the first of two annual releases by the MLSPA and are current as of April 16, 2026. The average guaranteed compensation for the league’s players is $688,816.

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