Measuring market value
One of the things that makes international football so special is the lack of transfers. If your country falls short at a major tournament, it’s no good whipping out the chequebook and throwing sacks of cash at world-class players born elsewhere.
Having said that, it certainly helps to have as many high-worth footballers on your side as possible. Using data collated by Statista and sourced from Transfermarkt, this slideshow ranks the top 10 World Cup teams by the market value of their 25 foremost players.
10. Poland (€220.3m)
Poland’s place in the top 10 owes a great deal to Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, one of the world’s leading strikers who’s valued at €80m.
Grzegorz Krychowiak, the PSG midfielder currently on loan at West Brom, is another key contributor at €25m, while Wojciech Szczesny (€17m), Kamil Glik (€18m) and Piotr Zielinski (€20m) would also fetch sizeable fees if they were sold in the January transfer window. With such players at Adam Nawalka’s disposal, it’s easy to see why many are tipping Poland to be dark horses in Russia.
9. Portugal (€279.1m)
Cristiano Ronaldo may turn 33 before the World Cup gets under way next summer, but he’s still valued at a cool €100m. That makes up over a third of Portugal’s total, with Bernardo Silva the next highest on the country’s squad list at €40m.
Joao Mario (€30m), Andre Silva (€25m) and Nelson Semedo (€20m) have all changed clubs for big money in the last 18 months and are therefore valued highly, as is Porto mainstay Danilo Pereira (€20m) and Valencia’s on-loan winger Goncalo Guedes (€17m).
8. Croatia (€294.8m)
Luka Modric is widely considered one of the best midfielders in the world, but the Real Madrid man is actually deemed to be worth €5m less than Ivan Rakitic, whose €45m valuation probably has much to do with the three years he has on Modric in terms of age.
Behind the Spain-based duo are Ivan Perisic, the Inter winger who was heavily linked with Manchester United in the summer and is valued at €35m, Mario Mandzukic (€20m), Nikola Kalinic (€20m) and Marcelo Brozovic (€20m).
7. England (€339m)
The current England squad may not be as talented as the Golden Generation, but manager Gareth Southgate still has a number of high-worth footballers to call upon. Tottenham striker Harry Kane leads the way at €80m, with club and international team-mate Dele Alli calculated as being worth €60m in today’s market.
Manchester City pair Kyle Walker and John Stones each come in at €35m, meanwhile, and youngsters Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford are valued at a combined €80m.
6. Belgium (€503.8m)
The Premier League provides a home to many of Belgium’s star men, including Eden Hazard (€75m), Romelu Lukaku (€70m) and Kevin De Bruyne (€75m).
Those three are valued significantly higher than the rest of the Red Devils’ group, with fourth-placed Thibaut Courtois contributing €40m to the Belgians’ overall squad value. Jan Vertonghen and Dries Mertens are considered to be €28m players, meanwhile, with Monaco’s young midfielder Youri Tielemans only likely to see his €22m valuation rise as time goes on.
5. Argentina (€528.5m)
Argentina’s overall total of €528.5m is significantly boosted by Lionel Messi, who at €120m is considered to be worth a huge €50m more than Paulo Dybala.
At a valuation of €65m, fellow forward Sergio Aguero would also cost a lot of money were he to be sold by Manchester City, but there’s quite a drop-off to Angel Di Maria (€40m) and further decreases to fifth-placed Nicolas Otamendi (€30m) and Lucas Biglia (€20m) in sixth. As is often the case with Argentina, Messi is out on his own.
4. Spain (€603.5m)
Interestingly, Spain don’t have a single representative in the top 20 most valuable footballers in the world. The reason for their fourth-place ranking, then, is a relatively high average, with 11 players worth €30m or more.
Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets tops the list at €60m, with Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata not too far behind on €50m. The other nine players who break the €30m barrier are Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, David de Gea, Thiago, Saul Niguez, Jordi Alba, Vitolo, David Silva and Marco Asensio.
2=. France (€636.5m)
Joint-second in the rankings are France, who are able to call upon two of the world’s six most valuable footballers in Kylian Mbappe (€90m) and Antoine Griezmann (€80m). Only Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have a higher value than the former, who’s currently on loan at PSG from Monaco.
Elsewhere, Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette is thought to be worth €50m, while Manchester United forward Anthony Martial contributes €35m to France’s overall total.
2=. Germany (€636.5m)
There’s nothing to separate France and Germany, whose top 25 players are cumulatively valued at exactly the same figure: €636.5m.
While no die Mannschaft representative can match the valuations of Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, no fewer than 13 Germans are deemed to be worth €25m or more (compared to 10 Frenchmen). The most valuable member of the world champions’ squad is Toni Kroos (€70m), followed by Mesut Ozil and Timo Werner (both €50m).
1. Brazil (€673m)
With Neymar considered the most valuable player in the world at €150m, it’s no surprise that Brazil top this list. The PSG forward, who was acquired from Barcelona for €220m last summer, isn’t the only Selecao star who would command a significant fee on the open market, with Philippe Coutinho (€65m), Gabriel Jesus (€45m), Marcelo (€38m) and Roberto Firmino (€38m) also helping Brazil into first place.
Tite therefore has an expensive group of players at his disposal in Russia, where the five-time world champions will be expected to add another star to their famous yellow shirts.
