Doha: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 already has upsets galore.
Fancied and highly rated teams in the calibre of World No.2 Belgium and four-time champions Germany did not see the light at the end of the group stage and crashed out while Australia and Senegal showed surprisingly exceptional skills as they made it to the last 16.
Germany were the most-valued team to crash out at the end of the opening stage raising questions about the value-to-performance ratio at the opening round of Qatar 2022.
Australia – one of the least-valued teams according to popular sport data provider sportingpedia.com - advanced to the Round of 16.
Prior to their exit following a 1-2 defeat in the hands of Lionel Messi-led Argentina on Saturday, the Socceroos had impressed the world by placing themselves ahead of No.10-ranked Denmark and Tunisia in Group D which was led by the defending champions France.
According to Sportingpedia, Australia were the lowest-valued team to enter Qatar 2022’s Round of 16.
The total value of players in Australia was recorded as €37.3m. Australia were the third lowest-valued squad in the tournament, only above Qatar and Costa Rica, but the Socceroos proved they could punch above their weight.
Japan, who proved to be one of the giant-killers at Qatar 2022 when they topped Group E defeating former champions Spain and Germany, were valued at €154m and came second in the list of lowest-valued teams.
Meanwhile, South Korea were ranked third in the list of lowest-valued teams to advance, carrying a tag of €163.9m.
The value of Senegalese team (€229.5m) was highly dependent on their talisman, Ballon d’Or runner-up – Sadio Mane, who could not make the Qatar trip due to an injury.
Meanwhile, Morocco, who stunned the Luis Enrique-coached Spain in a thrilling shootout yesterday to become the first Arab team to reach the quarter-finals, are the last one standing out of the five lowest valued teams with €241.1m.
Among the flops at Qatar 2022, Germany (€885), and Belgium (€563.2m) were the biggest surprises.
Both of the European football heavyweights failed to give real value for money this time, becoming the two most-expensive teams that didn’t make it past the group stage.
Germany beat Costa Rica 4-2 in their final Group E game following their loss to Japan, but the Asian team’s shock win over Spain knocked them out of the World Cup Round of 16 for the second time in a row.
Uruguay (€449.7m) failed to qualify after a dramatic last round which saw South Korea coming from behind to clinch a late win over Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal to overtake the South American side on number of goals scored. Denmark (€353m) and Serbia (€359.5) complete the top five of the highest valued teams to miss the knockout stage in Qatar.
