Big bucks! The 8 most expensive squads at the World Cup
The best footballing nations are in Brazil.
With so many football superstars gathered in one place, have you ever wondered how much each 23-man squad is worth?
Thanks to Transfermarkt, here are the eight most expensive national teams that will be competing at the World Cup.
All values stated are in pounds. £1 is equal to S$2.10.
8) ITALY
Squad value: £283.24m
Most valuable player: Mario Balotelli, £26.4m
Narrowly squeezing in ahead of Portugal, who have the second most valuable World Cup player in Cristiano Ronaldo at £88m, the Azzurri will be hoping market values won't decide the outcome when they face England in their Group D opener on Saturday.
7) ENGLAND
Squad value: £293.92m
Most valuable player: Wayne Rooney, £39.6m
Many questions have been asked of Rooney's ability to shine at major tournaments and rightly so. Much is expected of a forward rated at about £40m as England look to break their run of mediocre performances at the World Cup.
6) BELGIUM
Squad value: £306.24m
Most valuable player: Eden Hazard, £39.6m
Widely regarded as the World Cup's dark horses, the rise of Belgians in world football has been meteoric. It has been further underlined by their worth exceeding that of England and Italy.
5) FRANCE
Squad value: £333.74m
Most valuable player: Paul Pogba, £39.6m
Hurt by the loss of the injured £36,96m-rated Franck Ribery, Les Bleus will be hoping that the likes of Pogba and Antoine Griezmann (£22m) can shoulder France's hopes of adding to their solitary 1998 World Cup triumph.
4) ARGENTINA
Squad value: £344.52m
Most valuable player: Lionel Messi, £105.6m
When it comes to forwards, few countries can boast a more star-studded line up than the Albiceleste. Their top five most valuable players - Messi (also the most expensive of the tournament), Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, Angel di Maria and Ezequiel Lavezzi - are worth a cool combined £223.52m.
3) BRAZIL
Squad value: £411.4m
Most valuable player: Neymar, £52.8m
With their pedigree and samba stars like Neymar, the hosts are considered one of the favourites.But their combined value is still eclipsed by two other teams.
2) GERMANY
Squad value: £432.96m
Most valuable player: Mario Goetze, £48.4m
With an array of expensive attacking players like Goetze, Mesut Oezil and Thomas Mueller, this version of Germany are hardly like the dour sides of old. Their value mirrors the rise of top German sides like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
1) SPAIN
Squad value: £547.36m
Most valuable player: Andres Iniesta, £48.4m
With an endless list of star names like Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, there's no denying that the current World Cup holders have a truly fearsome squad - even back-up goalkeeper Pepe Reina is rated at £8.8m.
Source: Transfermarkt
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