updated 5:03 p.m. ET May 5, 2004

PARIS - Real Madrid and England soccer star David Beckham with his annual income of $26.8 million is the best-paid soccer player in the world, according to France Football magazine’s annual list.

Not all of Beckham’s income is salary, which amounts to $7.6 million of the total. He gets another $13.6 million for ad campaigns. A hefty advance for his book “My Side” and other sundry payments round out the total figure.

“The gap is growing in an irreversible manner between the ‘top,’ those whose image and talent — especially image — help the sale of T-shirts, season tickets and derivative products, and the others, who occasionally give the impression of being there because you need 11 players in the field and a couple others on the bench,” France-Football wrote.

It’s the second straight year that Beckham, 29, topped the list, which was published Tuesday. Two other Real Madrid players followed Beckham — Brazil’s Ronaldo with an income of $19.7 million and French star Zinedine Zidane with $16.7 million.

Last month, tabloid stories about Beckham’s alleged affairs with two women made headlines in Britain. Beckham, who is married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, has dismissed the allegations as “ludicrous.”

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