Big European and South American sides dominated the upper echelons of player worth, with Spain being the most valuable team with more than £900 million ($1.2 billion).
But when the referee blew a whistle to end the last game of Team Melli (versus Portugal) and Iranians saw their soccer squad knock out of the tournament with four points, the team value was upgraded to £41 million ($53.7 million), the Persian daily Sazandegi reported.
Thirteen out of 23 Iranian football players saw their market value increase compared with the period before the tourney. The most significant growth in the value of football players was calculated for Alireza Jahanbakhsh, the winger and attacking midfielder of Dutch AZ Alkmaar football club, from $19 million in 2017 to $21 million. Sardar Azmoon, the forward with Russian club Rubin Kazan, is worth $10.6 million now, the second most valuable Iranian footballer, according to Financial Tribune.
FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, gives a total of $400 million to teams who qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, with Iran’s share standing at $8 million.