Manchester City earlier in November 2022 announced the highest-ever revenues and profits in the Club's history. The Club reported record revenues of £613 million and record profits of £41.7 million, the latter being more than double the previous club record.
Over the years, the financial influence in football has risen higher than imagined and this is to tell you that in today’s football business, money and football go hand in hand and will remain inseparable for a long time to come.
While at club level teams are cashing out and keep being valued on a high, at international level, footballing nations are also not left behind when it comes to the money side of things. Already, that is evident enough as the world is witnessing the most expensive football tournament in history - The Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The 2022 World Cup is estimated to have cost Qatar $220 million, making it the most expensive World Cup ever in history. As 32 teams are battling to be crowned the champion of the most expensive World Cup tournament, Telecom Sport Asia checks out the footballing nations valued the highest among the teams participating.
The Money Bags
With the help of Transfer Market’s collection of players’ data, we were able to pinpoint the money bags in the Qatar 2022 World Cup. The host nation is interestingly the cheapest squad in the tournament despite hosting the most expensive tournament but the most expensive
Teams are certainly the big boys of the footballing world but sorry to disappoint you it is neither Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal nor Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
Surprised? Here are the top 10 most valuable countries at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The top 10 most valuable countries at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
| Countries | Values (in $) |
| England | 1.31 billion |
| Brazil | 1.18 billion |
| France | 1.12 billion |
| Portugal | 964.89 million |
| Spain | 936.57 million |
| Germany | 911.86 million |
| Argentina | 652.05 million |
| Netherlands | 604.73 million |
| Belgium | 579.97 million |
| Uruguay | 463.09 million |
Individually, France’s Kylian Mbappe with his super mega deal with Ligue 1 side PSG is the most valuable player in the tournament with valuation at $164 million and closely followed by Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior who is valued at $123 million.
For Africa, the Teranga Lions of Senegal are the most valued African team in the World Cup at $296 million but are behind the Super Eagles of Nigeria who are the number one valued African team at $311.2 million.
Valuation of other African teams at the 2022 World Cup is at:
- Morocco - $257.6 million
- Ghana - $221.7 million
- Cameroon - $159 million
- Tunisia - $64 million