Black Stars Valued at 158.5 Million Pounds� Guess Which Team Topped The List

Roy Hodgson has the third most valuable squad at the World Cup at his disposal, yet they are only joint eighth favourites to win the trophy. Despite having an estimated insurable value of �550million, more than top favourites Brazil (�448.3m) and Argentina (�355.2m) and almost three times that of Group D rivals Italy, not many people think England have a realistic chance of winning the tournament. Lloyd�s of London, who conducted the study with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), predicts the most expensive team, Germany, will lift the World Cup at the Maracana on July 13. They used players� wages and endorsement incomes to estimate career earnings and calculate the value of each player in the 32 World Cup squads. It showed England�s players are worth on average �23.9m � which is more than the whole of Group D rivals Costa Rica�s squad combined (�18.3m). Mario Balotelli and his ageing Italy team-mates come in at 10th on the list, while Chile, who many tip to be the tournament�s surprise package, are 23rd with a group value of �72m. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is England�s highest paid player after signing a new contract worth �300,000-a-week earlier this year. The collective value of the 32 teams at the World Cup is an estimated �6.2billion. Germany possess the most valuable squad (�641m), no doubt helped by the likes of Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos and Philipp Lahm, while reigning champions Spain, with Sergio Ramos, Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas, are second at �591m. The hosts Brazil might be favourites with the bookies to win the tournament but their squad is only the fourth most valuable, according to the report. The research suggests Group G, which features Germany, Cristiano Ronaldo�s Portugal, Ghana and USA, is the toughest group in the competition with a combined value of �1.2bn. France should have the easiest job of qualifying for the last 16. Didier Deschamps� team, which includes Karim Benzema, Paul Pogba and Hugo Lloris, has an average player value of �17.2m. Compare this with the other nations in Group E - Switzerland (�6m), Ecuador (�2.1m), Honduras (�1.5m). Marco Castro from Lloyd�s Brazil said: �It is incredible to see how much some of the teams playing in Rio are worth � the top three, Germany, Spain and England - are worth more than �1.7bn collectively. This is more than the bottom 20 teams combined. �The predicted insurable values also clearly show which groups should be trickier to qualify from than others � and it�s far from a level playing field.�