Argentina is the absolute winner, the "gauchos" grabbed the Golden Goddess for which they had been waiting for 36 years, but the numerous participants of the World Cup in Qatar have no reason to be dissatisfied either.
The effect of the World Cup and the title of the best scorer with only the second hat-trick in the history of the world championships, brought Kylian Mbappe the leading place on the specialized website Transfermarkt. The Paris Saint-Germain ace is now valued at 180 million and has left behind Erling Haaland, who is second on 170 million.
However, Mbappe was a star even before the competition in Qatar, as was Julijan Alvarez, who by no chance signed for Manchester City this summer. The popular Pauk, a proven winner in the River Plate jersey, showed during the World Cup that he can adapt, that he likes working with Lionel Messi, so maybe it can be expected that Pep Guardiola will now "pair" him with Haaland.
Argentinians, bronze-winning Croats and the first African semi-finalists, players from Morocco, received the most from the promotion.
Thus, Alexis McAllister, a 23-year-old midfielder, strengthened Brighton as an offensive player, then, working with Graham Potter, he proved to be a good rear midfielder, and in Qatar between those two positions with fantastic pressing and an assist to Angelo di Maria in the final.
He did not play in the opening defeat against Saudi Arabia, but then he perfectly took advantage of the opportunity in the Albiceleste jersey. Of course, the Benfica midfielder Enco Fernandes, who is two years younger, won the promotion and price.
What can we say about the year of the senior Moroccan Azedin Unahi. In the summer, he came to Angers for 350.000 euros, and in Qatar, along with Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesiri, he established himself as the best participant of the royal football academy of Morocco.
"I was left speechless by the eight of Morocco, I didn't remember the name, but he played phenomenally," said Spain coach Luis Enrique after the round of XNUMX loss, referring to Unahi.
The value was additionally raised by the 26-year-old Moroccan Sofijan Amrabat. In Fiorentina, he confirmed himself as a player capable of organizing the game and the "violets" are the second team in Serie A in terms of possession (58,1 percent, and Amrabat has the second result in the team in passing accuracy). However, in Qatar he responded in a different role and had the best result in "destroying" the rival's game.
Amrabat showed that he deserves an incomparably bigger club with his class.
And the Croats launched three stars. As expected, 20-year-old Joško Guardiol proved his enormous potential, for whom Leipzig are already receiving offers of over 120 million euros, even though Dinamo sold him this summer for less than 20 million...
Right back Josip Juranović also attracted attention with his career match against Brazil and it is unlikely that Celtic will be able to keep him, while Dinamo expects income from 27-year-old goalkeeper Dominik Livaković, who was in the competition for the best goalkeeper at the World Cup.
In the shadow of the teams that fought for medals, the public did not miss the 23-year-old PSV striker Kodi Gakpo - who is close to moving to Manchester United, as well as the younger player of Ajax and Ghana Mohamed Kudus.
Some players from small clubs also showed quality - Stoke's center back Hari Sutar in the Australian jersey did not lose a single aerial duel, he also showed that he can be the organizer of the game from the last line.
A year younger, 23-year-old Canadian Tajon Buchanan has demonstrated great technique and will be under the radar at Club Brugge in the Champions League. Even the Tunisian from Ferencvaros, Aisa Laiduni, is not without chances to reach the strongest leagues, especially after the game and assist in the victory over France.
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