Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, and Riyad Mahrez head the list of Africa's highest-earning football stars in 2026, driven by lucrative European and Saudi Arabian contracts.

African footballers have earned millions of dollars through lucrative club contracts, sponsorship deals, bonuses and business investments.

Several African stars have built significant wealth through football.

Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian forward, is ranked among the continent’s wealthiest footballers, with estimates of his net worth between 130M–160M million. 

Mohammed Salah (Trabzonspor)

Senegalese forward Sadio Mané and Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez are also among the leading names, largely due to their highly paid contracts in Saudi Arabia and Qatar respectively.

Sadio Mane (Al Nassr)

According to Afrique Sports, Mané in second place with an estimated wealth of US 110M–150M. Riyad Mahrez follows with 110M–130M. Kalidou Koulibaly follows with 80M–100M and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completes the top 5 with 50M–80M.

Riyad Mahrez (Al-Shamal SC)

Kalidou Koulibaly (Al-Hilal)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Deportivo A Coruña)

Below are estimates of figures compiled by independent research.