Although the Lionesses may have just put in England’s most successful performance on the pitch since 1966, research by RIFT Tax Refunds has revealed that the combined annual income of the entire 23 women squad is a quarter of that paid to Cristiano Ronaldo alone.
RIFT Tax Refunds analysed the annual salary of the 23 women to secure England’s first major footballing trophy since the 66 World Cup and found that, on average, they earn an estimated £71,131 per year.
While Lucy Bronze, Leah Williamson and Fran Kirby earn considerably more at £200,000 per year, the total annual income of the full 23 women squad sits at an estimated £1.64m per year.
In contrast, Cristiano Ronaldo takes home £6.19m per year on his own, with Kevin De Bruyne (£4.8m), Erling Haaland, David De Gea (£4.5m) and Mohamed Salah (£4.2m) also making more than four million per year.
The average annual income of £71,131 for England’s female players equates to just 1% of both Ronaldo and De Bruyne’s annual income, climbing to just 2% of the yearly income of Haaland, De Gea and Salah. Even England’s highest paid women make just 3%-5% of these top male players’ wages per year.
What’s more, the combined income of all 23 Lionesses (£1.64m) equates to just 26% of the annual income earned by Ronaldo alone and just over a third of that earned by De Bruyne (34%), Haaland (36%), De Gea (36%) and Salah (39%) in a single year.
However, having achieved such a momentous feat, they are in line to receive a boost to their income to the tune of £55,000 per player.
But again, this combined team bonus for achieving England’s greatest footballing accomplishment this millennium still only totals £1.265m – a fifth of Ronaldo’s annual earnings.
