The World Cup is almost upon us. It is pretty much the only event which can usurp club football at the highest level, and the festival of football is a world away from those dull international breaks fans hate during the club season.

This time, though, it’s the clubs vying vainly for attention when all eyes are elsewhere.

From wishing their players good luck to covering the action almost like every other major sporting account on Twitter, clubs can get involved. But this time they’re more like a publisher or content creator than a participant, which is a strange position for them to be in.

Just 3⃣ days until the #WorldCup !
How excited are you ?????
???????? Follow our players with #BarçaWorldCup pic.twitter.com/zNj82xp9By

— FC Barcelona ???????? (@FCBarcelona) June 11, 2018

Barcelona have pledged to cover all of their players’ fortunes at the World Cup on their own channels, providing fans with a one-stop shop to find the latest about all their club heroes.

Manchester City, too, are creating rich content about their own players, like the article below, arguing that Sergio Aguero will be crucial to Argentina’s hopes in the tournament – and when you think about it, the notion that the Albiceleste’s chances in Russia boil down to Lionel Messi is a little unfair to his teammates, especially when they have the talent of Aguero, Paulo Dybala or Angel di Maria.

Is @aguerosergiokun the man to light it up at the #WorldCup? #mancityhttps://t.co/vlEWBg9dJE

— Manchester City (@ManCity) June 11, 2018

Others are more content to just cheer on their boys from the sidelines.

Plenty of teams have representatives at the World Cup, and whilst their clubs will no doubt want them to thrive and succeed, they’ll probably also be mostly hoping that they don’t come back injured.

Roma, Tottenham and PSG – examples of tweets from each below – are different examples of clubs cheering on their players. Roma, as so much of their English-language Twitter presence does, act like a fan praising their goalkeeper. Meanwhile, Spurs and PSG are proud of their players’ exploits and their success in making the World Cup squads.

You need to do better than that to beat @Alissonbecker… ????#ASRoma #AB1 pic.twitter.com/3hn1pQ6aEp

— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) June 11, 2018

✈️???????? #PSGWorldCup

Le départ en Russie pour nos internationaux ???????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/rjiav2Al2M

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) June 11, 2018

✈️ ???????? Our boys are on their way to Russia!#WorldCup ???? ???? pic.twitter.com/SVR4iqB0Hu

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 11, 2018

Let's test your Spurs #WorldCup knowledge!

???? ⚽️ Which of our players scored the most goals in @FIFAWorldCup qualifying?

???? Submit your answer below.

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 11, 2018

Arsenal are plotting a middle course, promising to look back over classic moments that Gunners players have had at previous World Cup tournaments.

As the @FIFAWorldCup is only three days away, let's look back at some classic moments featuring Arsenal players

Which GIF would you use to describe this moment of magic from Dennis Bergkamp? ???????? pic.twitter.com/ogGMxgzh1q

— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) June 11, 2018

Despite the fact that clubs have little or nothing to do with the World Cup itself, there’s still clearly plenty of chance for them to get involved in the action – and plenty of work to do for those working behind the scenes!