France and Spain Face the World's most expensive semifinal, with the most valuable football stars

When Kylen Mbppé and Lamine Yamal lead their teams at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, they will not only seek a seat in Sunday's final, but also represent the most expensive collection of first talents ever in a World men's semifinal.

According to Transfermark data, France's team is estimated at around $1.78 billion ($1.56 billion), while Spain is estimated at $1.43 billion ($1.25 billion). Together they total about $3.2 billion ($2.8 billion), exceeding any other semifinal confrontation in the history of the tournament.

Much of that value focuses on some key players.

Lamine Yamal of Barcelona, who turned 19 a day before the match, is the most expensive player left in the race, worth about $234m ($25m). Next he ranks Kilian Mbppé with around $221m (185m euros).

Next come Michael Olise and Pedri, both estimated at about $1176m ($4m).

These four players make up four of the five most expensive football players in the world. The fifth is Norwegian Erling Haaland, whose team failed to reach this stage after being eliminated from England.

France's advantage is most visible in the attack, where players like Ousmanie Dembélé and Désiré Doué brings the total value of the offensive unit to about $878m ($770m), evidently more than Spain's attack of $49m ($428m), even though Yamal plays there.

France also leads in defence, estimated at $473m ($414m) over Spain's $333m euros.

Meanwhile, Spain has the upper hand in the ports, as its goalkeepers have a combined value of $183m (99m euros), compared to $667m (58m euros) of French goalkeepers.