The 2026 Fifa World Cup begins this week and will see nearly a quarter of the globe represented in the biggest finals in history.
The 48-team World Cup will feature the majority of the top players in the world, including from the eight Arab teams who have made the cut for the tournament.
With a wide open field, teams from the Middle East and North Africa region can expect to make their mark this time, just like Morocco did at the 2022 event in Qatar where they blazed their way to the semi-finals.
Unsurprisingly, Moroccan players have since been highly sought after in top leagues across Europe and elsewhere.
They also dominate the list of most valuable Arab players at the 2026 World Cup, according to Transfermarkt.
Most valuable Arab players at 2026 World Cup
1. Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, Paris Saint-Germain): €80 million transfer value
=2. Omar Marmoush (Egypt, Manchester City): €50m
=2. Ayyoub Bouaddi (Morocco, Lille): €50m
4. Ibrahim Maza (Algeria, Bayer Leverkusen): €45m
=5. Ismael Saibari (Morocco, PSV Eindhoven): €40m
=5. Abde Ezzalzouli (Morocco, Real Betis): €40m
=5. Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria, Manchester City): €40m
=8. Bilal El Khannouss (Morocco, Stuttgart): €35m
=8. Brahim Diaz (Morocco, Real Madrid): €35m
10. Amine Gouiri (Algeria, Olympique Marseille): €28m
11. Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco, Sunderland): €25m
=12. Neil El Aynaoui (Morocco, AS Roma): €23m
=12. Anis Hadj Moussa (Algeria, Feyenoord): €23m
=14. Mohamed Salah (Egypt): €22m*
=14. Samir El Mourabet (Morocco, Strasbourg): €22m
16. Mohamed Amoura (Algeria, Wolfsburg): €20m
17. Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco, Manchester United): €18m
18. Zakaria El Ouahdi (Morocco, Genk): €17m
=19. Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia, Burnley): €15m
=19. Fares Chaibi (Algeria, Eintracht Frankfurt): €15m
*At the time his Liverpool contract was terminated
Most valuable teams
Among the 48 teams, France lead the way when it comes to market value of players, according to Transfermarkt.
Les Bleus top the charts with a total squad valuation of €1.52 billion, with Kylian Mbappe alone worth €180m.
In all, four teams have a market value of more than €1b. After France, England (€1.36b), Spain (€1.22b) and Portugal (€1.01b) top the market value charts.
Defending champions Argentina are eighth on the list with a squad value of €782.5m, which is roughly half that of the French team they defeated in the 2022 Qatar World Cup final.
