That is the finding, anyway, of a survey of 8,000 people in 15 countries with teams in the Fifa World Cup.

Each person surveyed was given this hypothetical: “Suppose you could sacrifice a sum of money to ensure that your country would win the World Cup. How much would you give up?”

The U.S. was one of the 15 countries in the survey commissioned by ING, a financial services company based in the Netherlands. (On the link, roll down to the second graphic element.)

And where did U.S. fans rank?

Last.

The average Yank asked about spending on the U.S. national team said he/she would spend 37 euros to make it happen. Or about $50. Which is less than the cost of your average lower-level baseball ticket.

The second-stingiest fans were from the Netherlands, who said they would give 39 euros.

At the opposite end?

Chile. The average Chilean said he/she would give 526 euros — about $800 (!) — to be certain that Chile won.

Second most generous? Italy fans, who pledged 464 euros to see the Azzurri win, with Argentina third at 429.

I have a theory about Chile and Argentina, anyway.

South America has four countries in its southern half that are fairly prosperous and can even feel a bit European — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.

Chile is the only one of those four not to win the World Cup once. And, actually, those other three have all won it at least twice.

Chile would love to join that group. (As demonstrated by their willingness to spend 14 times as much as American fans, even while the per-capita income in Chile is about 17 percent of what it is in the States.)

Then there is Argentina, which considers Brazil its archrival, in soccer, and beating Brazil in Brazil … well, that kind of unalloyed joy is worth money.

Where does Brazil rank?

Fans there, who are a little conflicted about this World Cup and the $11 billion spent on it when things like schools and hospitals are not available, pledged only 100 euros, tied for sixth place with South Korea.

Besides thinking they already have spent enough on this World Cup, Brazilians also may figure they will win this tournament without having to spend any additional money on it.

Which is the opposite reaction of England. They were near the bottom in spending, behind the U.S., the Netherlands, Spain (84) and Belgium (91). England came in at 95, perhaps because the English are so scarred by World Cup failures (usually via shootout) that they don’t really believe they can buy their way to a title.

ING asked several World Cup questions, which yielded info like “Argentinians prepared to pay the highest fraction of their income for a victory” and “US willing to pay only 0.1 percent of their income” … and you can find those at the ING site at what they call their cuponomics page.

Anyway you cut it, Americans care the least about the world’s biggest sports event. Still.