Money does not play football after all. Proven by the national team of Ukraine

In the last couple of decades, when money is more and more actively pouring into professional football, many experts and fans began to think in categories – they say, it is impossible to achieve serious success without large investments. In most cases, such an approach is, unfortunately, justified and absolutely fair, leaving less and less room for maneuver for the notorious “sexy football”, as well as the ability to win in top tournaments for teams without high-value stars.

However, money is not a guarantee of success, as in most spheres of human activity. In terms of football, this means that the winner will not necessarily be the team with more expensive performers, and the last thesis in the current League of Nations draw is clearly demonstrated by the national team of Ukraine under the leadership of Serhiy Rebrov.

Let’s move from words to action and simply compare some numbers – indicators are always subjective to a certain extent, but much more fair and suitable for analytical thinking than just evaluative statements of experts, journalists or fans.

Turning to the authoritative portal Transfermarkt, which specializes, among other things, in displaying the estimated values ​​of professional football players, it can be found that, as of the current moment, the national team of Ukraine ranks 18th in world football in terms of the combined value of all first team players. The experts of the portal estimate the “blue-yellow” in full equipment at 325.2 million euros, and under the jurisdiction of UEFA there are only twelve teams that have a more expensive composition: Denmark (331 million euros), Turkey (331.7 million euros), Belgium (€334.5 million), Sweden (€350.5 million), Norway (€365.45 million), Italy (€658.5 million EUR), the Netherlands (EUR 769 million), Spain (EUR 781 million), Germany (EUR 782 million), Portugal (EUR 792 million), England (EUR 996 million) and France (EUR 1.01 billion).

As you can see, there is not a single opponent of the Ukrainian national team in Group B1 of the League of Nations, and this, in case someone suddenly forgot the Czech Republic, Georgia or Albania, is higher than the “blue and yellow” in the rating of the most valuable national football teams in the world. Moreover, our competitors occupy very modest positions, significantly losing to the Ukrainians. For example, the national team of Georgia is only in 35th place, having the opportunity to boast of the total estimated value of its football players at the level of 178.1 million euros. The Czech Republic occupies the 47th position (120.7 million euros), and our closest rival is the national team of Albania and is only 52nd (89.95 million euros), losing in the “financial rating” even to the national team of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (91, 05 million euros).

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Artem Dovbyk is one of the most expensive players of the Ukrainian national team The five most expensive footballers of the Ukrainian national team on Transfermarkt include: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Artem Dovbyk and Georgy Sudakov (the estimated value of each of them is 35 million euros), as well as Ilya Zabarny (32 million euros) and Mykhailo Mudryk (30 million euros). Four of them, with the exception of Sudakov, play in Europe’s top leagues, three (Zinchenko, Zabarny and Mudryk) play in the English Premier League, which many consider to be the strongest national football championship at the moment.

For comparison: the most valuable football player of the Georgian national team right now is the winger of “Napoli” Hvich Kvaratshelija, who is estimated by experts to be worth 80 million euros. He is followed by the goalkeeper of “Valencia” Giorgiy Mamardashvili (45 million euros) and the forward of “Lyon” Georges Mikoutadze (20 million euros), but further – a complete failure, because the Georgians do not have anyone who would be valued at more than 5 million euros!

The Czechs have a similar situation with the Albanians, where there are also only a few stars of the first magnitude (according to local standards – for sure), and behind them – “gray mass”. In the Czech Republic, the most valuable football player is West Ham defender Tomas Soucek (€30 million), and Hoffenheim forward Adam Glozek, whose contract is valued at €18 million, also stands out in terms of the financial aspect. The rest of the players of the Czech team are not worth more than 8 million each. In Albania, the most valuable player is Inter defender Kristjan Aslani (18 million euros), followed by Besiktas winger Ernest Muchi (12 million euros), and then there is no footballer who is more expensive than 6 million euros.

Of course, Transfermarkt ratings are quite relative, but most football players pay attention to this, too, just remember the numerous reactions of various performers to their ratings in the game simulator EA Sports FC 25, and earlier – in the FIFA line of games that preceded it.

Therefore, there is no doubt that the players know who and how much they rate on Transfermarkt. And, of course, the greater your potential value, the more pleasant and prestigious it is for each performer. And for many expert evaluations of this kind, financial evaluation indicators are one of the factors to call this or that team a favorite.

It is not surprising that before the start of the competitive process in group B1 of the League of Nations, the Ukrainian national team was called the main contender for the first place with a generally fairly balanced selection of quartet members. But as a matter of fact, “blue-yellow” proved that money does not play football, they do not go to the field and they are not able to ensure the result on the scoreboard. In particular, our national team lost to Albania (1:2) and the Czech Republic (2:3), having drawn against the same Czechs (1:1) and Georgians (1:1) and beating the latter in a nominal home match only minimally (1:0 ). That is why, before the final round, Serhiy Rebrov’s wards are in last place, and they have to hope only for a miracle, so as not to be completely embarrassed and relegated to the C division of the League of Nations.

Of course, due to the results in the League of Nations-2024/25, the national team of Ukraine has already received decent praise from fans, journalists and experts. Criticism of the “blue and yellow” is pouring in both justified and absolutely stunning, on the border with insults, and sometimes even crossing it, which does not add honor to those who stoop to such. But – and this is important for football players and the coaching staff to understand – there is no point in praising this team, even when you desperately want to. After all, big money, be it personal contracts or the estimated value of a transfer, is not only a kind of pleasure, but also a colossal responsibility, because you have to answer to them always and under any conditions. If today someone who is appreciated and earns less has passed you by, then tomorrow there is a chance that he will be in your place, receiving the full spectrum of life’s pleasures and joy, and leaving you only with memories of the “good old days” and the “warm bath” effect “, which they provided. Does this suit the players of the current team of Ukraine?