The Peninsula
The World Cup is just three days away from witnessing the kick off of what is expected to be the greatest football extravaganza and a star cast has already descended on Doha.
Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi and the formidable Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo are probably the biggest names in the World Cup line-up this time, but the real value when it comes to money - lies elsewhere, latest facts and figures have revealed.
A study has revealed that the Harry Kane-led English squad is the most valued outfit at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, while France’s Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe has emerged as the most valued player.
The Gareth Southgate-coached England have been valued at €1,260m according to a study conducted by SportingPedia depending on the data provided by transfermarket.com, while the Frenchman Mbappe carries a price tag of €160m at Qatar 2022.
The captain of the Three Lions, and Tottenham Hotspur star Kane is valued at €90m and has a number of high value comrades in the English side, including Manchester City midfielder Phil Foden, who is valued at €110m, the squad’s most valuable player. Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham is the third most valued in their squad at €100m.
Brazil are the second most valued team to be seen in action in Qatar.
Valued at €1,137m, Neymar & Co has obtained the honour thanks to the price tags of few of their key players, led by Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, Rodrigo Goes, not forgetting the PSG striker.
Much of Tite’s squad’s value comes from Vinicius’ price tag of a whopping €120m while team-mate Rodrigo is valued at €80m. Neymar adds €75m to the total valuation.
Meanwhile, the defending champions France are the third highest valued squad at Qatar 2022, and also one of only three teams valued above €1bn.
With a team valuation of €1,066bn, Didier Deschamps’ side’s value is mainly swelled by the charismatic Parisian Mbappe who is not only the player with the highest market value of the French squad, but in the entire tournament.
Norwegian Erling Haaland (€170m) is the highest valued in the world, but will not participate at this year’s because Norway failed to qualify. In his absence, Mbappe has emerged the most expensive player, boasting an estimated value of €160m, transfermarket.com has revealed. His team-mates Aurelian Tchouameni €80m, while Kingsley Coman, Ousmane Dembele and Jules Kounde are valued at €60m.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal has an estimated value of €923m.
The 37-year-old Manchester United striker’s value has faced a collapse in recent years and now valued at €20m, but the squad include three other players above the €75m mark.
Bernardo Silva is the Portuguese player with the highest market value at €80m while Bruno Fernandes and Ruben Dias are valued at €75m.
Spain, at €902m, are the fifth most expensive team, despite having the youngest squad of all 32 teams headed to the World Cup. Barcelona’s Pedri has the highest price tag at €100m while midfielders Gavi and Rodri are valued at €90m and €80m respectively.
Germany (€873.5m), Argentina (€633.2m), Netherlands (€587.25m) and Belgium (€578.2m) are the teams which surpass the €500m mark.
When it comes to individual figures, Belgian Thibaut Courtois (€60m), Uruguayan Fede Valverde (€100m euros), Germany’s Jamal Musiala (€100m), England’s Trent Alexander-Arnold (€70m) and Bellingham (€100m) are also among those who are valued most.