As the upcoming FIFA World Cup approaches, the French men’s national team is entering the global tournament with one of the most stacked and valuable attacking groups in modern soccer history. Two independent leading football valuation bodies, Transfermarkt and the CIES Football Observatory, have calculated that the combined market value of France’s 10 forward candidates for Deschamps’ squad totals 855 million euros, equal to just over $1 billion. That staggering figure has put Les Bleus in a rare position: head coach Didier Deschamps does not face a crisis of who to select for his roster — he faces the far more pleasant challenge of which world-class talent to cut from his starting 11 for their opening group stage match against Senegal on June 16.
Leading this extraordinary cohort of attackers is 27-year-old Kylian Mbappé, the two-time World Cup final top scorer and Real Madrid superstar, whose individual market value tops the group at 200 million euros ($236 million). Currently in another dominant club season, Mbappé is just one goal away from equaling Olivier Giroud’s record of 56 career goals for France, which would make him the nation’s all-time leading international scorer. His proven big-game pedigree and consistent prolific finishing make him the undisputed anchor of France’s attacking threat.
Behind Mbappé, a mix of established stars and exciting emerging talent gives Deschamps endless tactical options. Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise ranks second in squad value at 140 million euros, coming off a scintillating season for the Bundesliga champions that has seen him net 18 goals and register 25 assists across 44 competitions. Paris Saint-Germain’s rising 20-year-old Désiré Doué comes in third at 115 million euros, outvaluing 28-year-old Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, who is valued at 100 million euros and brings blistering pace and clinical finishing to any attacking line. Bradley Barcola, Doué’s in-form PSG teammate who impressed against Chelsea in this season’s Champions League, is valued at 70 million euros, followed by 21-year-old playmaker Rayan Cherki at 65 million euros.
Cherki, who first made headlines as a 16-year-old scoring a brace in a French Cup fixture for Lyon, has seen his stock skyrocket after a mid-season transfer to Manchester City for an initial 36 million euros, a fee that already looks like a major bargain. He turned heads again with a superb solo goal in a top-of-the-table Premier League clash against Arsenal, and his instinctive, creative playmaking has drawn praise even from City manager Pep Guardiola, who worked alongside legends of passing like Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta during his time at Barcelona. A strong World Cup performance could send Cherki’s market value soaring even higher.
The list of talented options continues with 25-year-old Maghnes Akliouche, who scored in both legs of Monaco’s tight Champions League playoff against PSG and whose galloping runs from deep are notoriously difficult for defenders to track. His 50 million euro valuation matches that of Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram, who has hit top form as Inter closes in on the Serie A title, adding strong aerial ability to France’s attacking diversity. That same physical, aerial threat is offered by Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta, a consistent Premier League goalscorer who has two strikes in three appearances for Les Bleus and is valued at 35 million euros, with a move to a top European club expected this summer.
Rounding out the group is Randal Kolo Muani, who is currently on loan at Tottenham Hotspur from PSG. Although he has struggled for form in North London this season, the forward still holds a 30 million euro valuation, and he remains a familiar name to World Cup viewers after coming seconds away from writing his name into tournament history: in the 2022 World Cup final against Argentina, he missed a point-blank chance in the final moments of extra time, before France lost the title on penalties despite a Mbappé hat-trick.
For French soccer fans and neutrals alike, the sheer quality and depth of this $1 billion attacking group makes Les Bleus one of the most exciting teams to watch ahead of the tournament, with Deschamps holding all the cards as he prepares to build his starting lineup around the world’s most valuable forward line.