The Club World Cup is here — but how much will top European teams care?

The question was put to Fox Sports analyst Landon Donovan, the former MLS and U.S. National Team forward. His playing career also included stints with clubs in Germany and England.

“I think the players involved, as a general statement, will take it seriously and will be excited about it,” Donovan said. “The alternative is they come to America on a preseason tour and play six friendly games that mean nothing, and they are still doing all the same things. If I’m a player — (and) obviously it’s skewed because I was an MLS player — I would have been ecstatic to do it.

“There will be some players who think, ‘It’s the end of the year. I’m a little tired.’ But I think as we get into the tournament, the teams and players are going to take it seriously.”

If so, then the Club World Cup has the potential to be an entertaining tournament.

The top four teams in the field feature global stars Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid), Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain), Erling Haaland (Man City) and Harry Kane (Bayern Munich). Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi, who is probably the greatest player ever, also will participate. Inter Miami and Man City are scheduled to play group-stage matches at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The tournament’s top clubs have financial incentives to go all-out to win. The record $1 billion prize pot includes $457 million in performance awards. The champion club can earn up to $125 million. To put that sum in perspective: Manchester City was awarded about $94 million for winning this year’s Champions League, the world’s most prestigious club trophy.

Still, it’s not clear how much effort the players can give in the Club World Cup, even if they care about the money and the trophy. FIPRO, the global trade union for soccer players, criticized FIFA’s decision to expand the event from eight teams playing over 10 days to 32 teams playing over a month. Players who recently finished domestic seasons will have less time to recover before new seasons start later this summer.

If the Club World Cup is a money grab by FIFA, then it doesn’t appear to be an effective one.

The Associated Press reported that FIFA has slashed prices at several Club World Cup venues. The organization also stopped selling tickets for the upper levels of some venues while upgrading seats for fans who already purchased tickets, the AP reported. Full lower bowls are a better look for TV.

There’s a good chance there will be several lopsided matches in the tournament. The field includes clubs that can’t match the financial resources of the 12 European teams. The three MLS teams in the field are especially at a disadvantage. MLS limits player salaries, while leagues with promotion and relegation systems don’t face such restrictions.

“You just can’t compete,” said Fox analyst Alexi Lalas, who started his playing career in Italy’s top league before moving on to MLS. “Seattle’s entire roster is worth half of one of Inter Milan’s players. You have to look at it that way, honestly. That being said, it’s a huge opportunity to showcase your team and yourself as a player.”

The MLS teams are among the underdog clubs that will be looking to knock off the top sides. European confederation teams won 16 of the 20 previous Club World Cups. Teams from the South American confederation won the other four.

To make his case that the powerful clubs will care about a lesser trophy, Donovan cited the Nations League, a tournament for European national teams that began in 2018. Donovan noted that Portuguese stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes were emotional after their side defeated Spain in the final Sunday (Fernandes is set to play in the Club World Cup with Man City).

If star players care that much about a trophy with little history, then there might come a time when they feel the same way about the Club World Cup.

“I think, maybe not this summer, but in three summers or five summers or seven summers, people — including the players — are going to love this, and it is going to be something that is very prestigious,” Donovan said.