Portugal and France have both won their semi-final matches with a comfortable score of 2-0, kicking Wales and Germany out of the UEFA EURO 2016 respectively.
The match between Wales and Portugal set the stage for a showdown between two of the highest earners in football, with Cristiano Ronaldo coming out top against club teammate Gareth Bale.
Germany, a hot favourite with top players such as Mesut Ozil, Thomas Mueller and Manuel Neuer, was dumped out of the competition by host nation France. Antoine Griezmann has been the star of the French team, scoring 6 goals in 6 games at his first EURO. His performances and goal tally this tournament have overshadowed French big names like Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet.
As much as countries like Portugal are widely recognized as “CR7’s Team”, football is a team sport and together, the starting 11 roll in a ridiculous amount of money in wages each week.
The lineups for their respective semi-final matches:
Here are 5 facts about the players’ wages as well as the prize money involved in the UEFA EURO 2016.
(Note: Statistics mentioned below are estimates based on information available.)
#1 Ronaldo = 3 French Players
Ronaldo’s Weekly wages of €336,000 is almost equivalent to the weekly wages of 3 French players. Top French players like Antoine Griezmann and Hugo Lloris’ combined wages of around €220,000 are only a fraction of Ronaldo’s ridiculously high weekly salary.
Note that this is NOT inclusive of the money earned through sponsorships.
Read Also: How Much You Need To Earn To Be Above Singapore’s Average
#2 Expensive French Bench
With the likes of known names like Anthony Martial, N’Golo Kante and Yohan Cabaye, the French bench is an expensive one. Many players on the French bench have weekly wages more than that of Portugal’s starting players – E.g. Jose Fonte earns €54,000 weekly.
#3 Prize Money Of €27,000,000
The prize money breakdown is as follows:
The winning team of the UEFA EURO 2016 will win a total of about €27million. This works out to be about €1million per player. But this does not include sponsorships and bonuses given by the country (if there is at all). Losing in the finals would mean €3million less in prize money.
#4 Young Talent, Big Clubs
Talented and full of potential, young players such as Renato Sanches (18, Portugal) and Samuel Umtiti (22, France) have made the headlines in recent weeks with their big money transfers to top clubs.
Portugal wonderkid Renato Sanches’ signed a €35million deal that seals his move from Benfica to Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich.
More recently, Samuel Umtiti, France’s defensive anchor, signed a €25million deal with La Liga champions, Barcelona, completing his move from Lyon.
#5 3 vs 2
This has nothing to do with the money involved in EURO but it might affect all the FIFA players out there. EA Sports has just announced the FIFA16 European Team of the Tournament.
France has 3 players named on the team: Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann. Portugal has 2 players named: Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe.
Even on a combined team, there are still more French players picked than Portuguese players.
The battle of the No. 7s (Ronaldo and Griezmann) takes place this Monday, 11 July, at 3am. Would France, the team with the average player earning wages more than that of their Portuguese opponents emerge as champions? Or could Ronaldo, Nani and gang pull off some magic to rain on the host nation’s parade? Head to one of the 34 Community Clubs screening the EURO finals live or download the Singtel TV GO App to catch the action.
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