As the world's best footballers align with their national teams in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, all eyes are on the pivotal matchups and the drama of each contest.
Much has been said about the talent and skill of the players, and the strategy the coaches employ, in hopes of giving their teams the best chance at success in the tournament.
For those interested in the market value of the players on the teams and how that may or may not translate to their fortunes on the pitch, one study has mapped out the math.
Using a formula to calculate the transfer value of each player on each World Cup team, the study has found a monetary way to rank the competition.
Most notably, England's squad checks in with the highest collective transfer value of more than $1.54 billion. The largest chunk of that amount is young Jude Bellingham's $208 million.
Bellingham, 19, a Birmingham native, plays his club football in Germany's Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund. His debut was in September 2020 when he became the club's youngest goal scorer at age 17.
Brazil is second on the list, with a total transfer value of $1.50 billion. Winger Vinicius Junior's transfer value is $207 million.
Third is France, at $1.42 billion. Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe accounts for $191 million of that total.
Rounding out the top 10 are Spain ($1.24 billion), Portugal ($1.19 billion), Germany ($1.05 billion), Netherlands ($779 million), Argentina ($770 million), Uruguay ($608 million) and Belgium ($579 million).
Pulisic's Transfer Value Tops Team USA
The United States men's national soccer team comes in 15th on the transfer value list, at $376 million, with attacking midfielder Christian Pulisic at $54 million.
Born in 1998 in Hershey, Penn., Pulisic began playin the sport at a young age. Both of his parents played collegiate soccer at George Mason University. He played there and in England while his mother was on a teacher exchange with the Fulbright Program. He also played in Michigan before he was 10 years old, attending elementary school while his dad was general manager of the indoor club Detroit Ignition.
On December 13, 2013 at an under-17 tournament in Florida, he scored a goal against Brazil. The memory was significant for Pulisic, enough so that he still has the date "12/13/2013" tattooed on his arm.
He began his top tier professional career in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund in 2016 at age 17. Early in 2019, Pulisic signed with Premier League club Chelsea. He made his debut there the next August, and became the club's youngest player to score a hat trick (three goals in one game) in a 4-2 win against Burnley that October at 21 years and 38 days.
In May 2021 Pulisic won the Champions League with Chelsea, becoming the first American to play in the final.
With Team USA in 2018, Pulisic became the youngest player to be named captain at age 20. He scored a hat trick with the national team in March 2022 in a World Cup qualifier versus Panama.
And now, with the nickname "Captain America," he leads his nation's team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Calculating Transfer Value
The transfer values used here are from a study published by the Football Observatory, a research group created in 2005 within the Swiss-based International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES).
"Transfer value is defined as the fee that an engaging team is willing to agree with the releasing team as compensation for breaching the contract of a player with respect to the transfer fees paid in the past for footballers with similar characteristics," the study says.
"Transfer fees are agreed by market actors on a free basis, following negotiations that can last several weeks or even months," it continues. "These negotiations include the representatives of both the engaging and releasing teams (primarily club owners, CEOs and sports directors), as well as ... football agents. The latter may represent both the player and the clubs involved and, in the latter case, may be entitled to a share of the transfer fee negotiated."
