{"id":8030,"date":"2026-04-21T13:36:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/8030\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:36:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T13:36:03","slug":"billion-dollar-attack-france-boasts-rich-scoring-depth-at-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/8030\/","title":{"rendered":"Billion-dollar attack: France boasts rich scoring depth at World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS (AP) \u2014 France will have rich depth in attack at the World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About a billion dollars\u2019 worth.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the estimated total value of the attacking players France is expected to bring to the tournament, from two-time World Cup final<\/a> scoring sensation Kylian Mbapp\u00e9<\/a> to rising star D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For coach Didier Deschamps the headache is not about who to choose, but who to leave out of his starting lineup for France\u2019s World Cup opener against Senegal on June 16.<\/p>\n

He has a huge amount of talent to complement the prolific scoring of Mbapp\u00e9, who is enjoying another prolific season with Real Madrid and needs one more goal to tie Olivier Giroud as France\u2019s all-time leading scorer<\/a> with 57 goals.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s the speed and finishing of Ballon d\u2019Or winner Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9<\/a>; the clinical scoring and exquisite passing of Michael Olise<\/a>; the maverick skill<\/a> of the technically gifted Rayan Cherki<\/a>; or the fleet-footed runs of fellow newcomer Maghnes Akliouche<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to estimates from soccer website transfermarkt<\/a> and the CIES Football Observatory<\/a>, which take into account the remaining time on a players\u2019 contract, France\u2019s 10 attacking players are worth 855 million euros, which is a fraction over $1 billion.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at the top players.<\/p>\n

Mbapp\u00e9 tops the list<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, the 27-year-old Real Madrid superstar leads the way at 200 million euros ($236 million). <\/p>\n

Mbapp\u00e9 is followed by the Bayern Munich star Olise at 140 million euros. The London-born Olise\u2019s form has been scintillating for Bundesliga champion Bayern with 18 goals and 25 assists in 44 games.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old Dou\u00e9 has three years left on his PSG contract and is valued at around 115 million compared to 100 million euros for Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, who has two years left to run at PSG and is eight years older.<\/p>\n

Their goal-scoring PSG teammate Bradley Barcola \u2014 who starred against Chelsea<\/a> in the Champions League \u2014 comes in next at 70 million euros, followed by Cherki at 65 million.<\/p>\n

Cherki\u2019s value could rise<\/p>\n

Cherki first caught the eye six years ago when he was 16, scoring twice in a French Cup game for Lyon. He has entered a new dimension since joining Manchester City<\/a> in the offseason for what is now looking like a bargain fee of 36 million euros. He scored a fine solo goal against Arsenal in their Premier League table-topping clash on Sunday.<\/p>\n

His ability to create goals with his intuitive passing<\/a> have surprised even City coach Pep Guardiola \u2014 who worked alongside two of the world\u2019s finest passers in Lionel Messi and Iniesta at Barcelona \u2014 and Cherki\u2019s value could rocket if he does well at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Akliouche<\/a> scored in both legs for Monaco against PSG in a closely-contested Champions League playoff and his galloping runs from deep make him hard to track. He is also capable of brilliant individual goals, scoring a superb overhead kick<\/a> for Monaco last season. <\/p>\n

He is valued at 50 million euros along with Inter Milan forward Marcus Thuram<\/a>, who has hit form in recent weeks as Inter closes in on the Serie A title.<\/p>\n

Thuram adds to France\u2019s attacking options thanks to his heading ability, a strong point shared by Jean-Philippe Mateta<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The imposing striker is a consistent scorer for Premier League side Crystal Palace and has netted two goals in three appearances for Les Bleus. <\/p>\n

Mateta is expected to join a bigger club next season and is valued at 35 million euros, ahead of former PSG forward Randal Kolo Muani. He is on loan at Tottenham and, although he has lost form, he would likely fetch 30 million if PSG sold him.<\/p>\n

Kolo Muani almost wrote his name into World Cup history in 2022, but missed a chance right at the end of extra time in the final<\/a>, which France lost on penalties to Argentina despite a hat-trick from Mbapp\u00e9. ___<\/p>\n

AP World Cup coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/fifa-world-cup<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS (AP) \u2014 France will have rich depth in attack at the World Cup. About a billion dollars\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[214,199,3774,5,5354,6205,1565,17,21,272,19,696,3748,4156,270,269,193,7],"class_list":{"0":"post-8030","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-bradley-barcola","9":"tag-didier-deschamps","10":"tag-fifa-world-cup","11":"tag-france","12":"tag-france-national-soccer-team","13":"tag-jean-philippe-mateta","14":"tag-lionel-messi","15":"tag-maghnes-akliouche","16":"tag-marcus-thuram","17":"tag-michael-olise","18":"tag-olivier-giroud","19":"tag-ousmane-dembele","20":"tag-paris-saint-germain-fc","21":"tag-pep-guardiola","22":"tag-randal-kolo-muani","23":"tag-rayan-cherki","24":"tag-soccer","25":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}