REVEALED: Top 50 most-powerful influencers in World Football

The world of football combines some of the most powerful and influential individuals and personalities, not least, those who grace the football pitch to the roar of packed stadiums.

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Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo are chief among them, but Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been named by France Football as the most powerful influencer in world football ahead of the duo and Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

The listed includes players, managers and senior chiefs among which are also the likes of Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp and Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes. Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, US women’s star Megan Rapinoe and Swiss Justice round up the top ten.

The 50 most powerful influencers in world football:

50. Ballon d’Or (Award)

49. Khalida Popal (Activist)

48. Jean-Michel Aulas (Lyon president)

47. Rui Pinto (Creator of Football Leaks)

46. Hassan Al-Thawadi (2022 World Cup committee leader)

45. David Beckham (Former footballer, Inter Miami president and co-owner)

44. Mario Gallavotti (Fifa lawyer)

43. Didier Drogba (Former player)

42. Alex Green (Entrepreneur)

41. Jonathan Wilson (Football journalist)

40. Hiroshi Mikitani (CEO of Rakuten, president of Vissel Kobe)

39. Xavi Hernández (Al-Sadd coach)

38. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool player)

37. Viktor Zubkov (Gazprom chairman)

36. Ahmad Ahmad (African Football Confederation president)

35. Sharon Thorne (Chair of the Deloitte Global Board of Directors)

34. FIFPro (Players’ Union)

33. Jonathan Barnett (Football agent)

32. Victor Montagliani (CONCACAF president)

31. Pierluigi Collina (Retired referee)

30. Chung Mong Gyu (Football Association of Korea president, member of Fifa Council)

29. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern Munich president)

28. Salman al-Khalifa (Prince of Bahrain, Asian Football Confederation president)

27. Stephen Ross (Property guru, Miami Dolphins owner)

26. Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

25. Andrew Wilson (EA Sports’ CEO)

24. Wang Jianlin (Founder of Dalian Wanda Group, Atletico Madrid part-owner)

23. Pini Zahavi (Football agent)

22. Christian Seifert (Bundesliga president)

21. Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Manchester City owner)

20. Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain player)

19. XI Jinping (Chinese president)

18. Zinédine Zidane (Real Madrid manager)

17. Mino Raiola (Football agent)

16. Neymar Jr. (Paris Saint-Germain player)

15. Richard Masters (Premier League chief executive)

14. Adidas/ Nike

13. Aleksander Ceferin (Uefa president)

12. Pep Guardiola (Manchester City manager)

11. Brian Roberts (CEO of Comcast)

10. Swiss Justice

9. Megan Rapinoe (US Women’s Football player)

8. Florentino Perez (Real Madrid president)

7. Lionel Messi (Barcelona player)

6. Andrea Agnelli (Juventus president)

5. Jorge Mendes (Football agent)

4. Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool manager)

3. Gianni Infantino (Fifa president)

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus player)

1. Nasser Al-Khelaifi (Paris Saint-Germain president)