NUUK, Greenland — This weekend, Greenland’s football team will travel over 6,000 miles for a game. They will swap the snow-covered playing fields of Nuuk, the territory’s capital, for the Brazilian city of Curitiba and hope that their passion for the game will, for a short time at least, remove the distraction of politics and boost their hopes of playing more meaningful games closer to home.
A campaign by the Football Association of Greenland (KAK) to secure membership in Concacaf (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football) was submitted in May 2024, followed by months of preparation by the KAK to get the application over the finish line. It had been due to reach a crucial, perhaps defining, moment this week, with senior KAK figures invited to Concacaf HQ in Miami to discuss Greenland’s prospects of joining the confederation’s 41 member associations.
After President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. could look to acquire the autonomous Danish territory, negotiations between Greenland and Concacaf (the confederation containing the U.S., Mexico and Canada — next summer’s World Cup hosts) were delayed.
The unexpected rhetoric from President Trump has become a distraction for both the KAK and Concacaf.
“People are asking is it Trump inviting you to the United States,” KAK chief executive Kenneth Kleist told ESPN. “So no, we will meet [Concacaf] later. We are going to meet in London instead, maybe in a month or so, without me going deeper into it than that. It’s become a little bit political, as you can imagine.”
Concacaf declined to comment on Greenland’s application when contacted by ESPN.
Greenland has become a political football at the worst possible time for the KAK. A territory with a population of around 56,000 wants to have a home for its football team. Participation in next week’s Intercontinental Futsal Cup in Brazil — Greenland’s players keep in shape by playing futsal (5-on-5 soccer played indoors on a smaller court) because of the prolonged wintry climate — is a huge moment for the Greenland squad, but what they really want is competitive football, home and away, with the chance, however small, to dream of playing at a World Cup.
“We want to be able to look forward to games, competitive games, in World Cup qualifiers,” said team captain, Patrick Frederiksen. “That’s why we want to join Concacaf.”
One awkward thing about their Concacaf application: Greenland doesn’t have a stadium that could host international football games. Nuuk Stadium, adjacent to the Inussivik arena, has an artificial turf pitch and is listed as having a capacity of 2,000, but one side is a rocky hill — covered in snow during ESPN’s visit — and the other backs onto the arena, and the rest is surrounded by houses and apartments. But the application to join Concacaf is part of a plan to develop football and facilities for all sports in Greenland and inadvertently, this is where Trump’s acquisition talk may play in Greenland’s favor.
Investment is needed to build a series of air domes — large, multipurpose sports venues with a roof — that would allow Greenland to stage football fixtures year-round. “There’s a lot of work to do,” said Kleist, CEO of the KAK. “We have no real infrastructure, with cities not connected with the roads and there are a lot of difficulties to be managed, but we have to be positive because we have to do something big in this country. There’s a lot of possibilities for air domes and we are [talking] with the government.”
A snap general election was called earlier this month by Greenland’s prime minister, Mute Bourup Egede, to be held on March 11. The primary issue is not the interest of the U.S. in the territory, but the possibility of reforms and greater investment from Denmark, including upgrades and updates to infrastructure, sporting facilities and health care. Due to a lack of hospitals in Greenland, many patients must be flown to Iceland — a journey of three hours only if weather conditions allow.
There is also a growing independence movement in Greenland, with reports of a possible referendum after the election and a vote on breaking away from Denmark completely. Sources have told ESPN that Trump’s interest in Greenland has put the Danish government under pressure to invest more in Greenlandic projects, including infrastructure and air domes, to avert the prospect of an independence referendum.
Links with Denmark run deep, however. The Danish sportswear manufacturer Hummel has produced Greenland’s new playing strip with the home and away jerseys incorporating traditional Inuit patterns, while the light blue away shirt has been specially designed to match the color of the icebergs around Greenland. In a nod to the social problems on the island — Greenland has a suicide rate six times higher than Nordic countries, according to one study — Hummel has teamed up with UNICEF in a campaign to help deal with mental health issues in the territory.
The sense of change in Greenland is inescapable. Kleist is guarded when it comes to politics talk, making it clear that the KAK are respectful of Concacaf’s process and have no desire to make their application anything but a football matter. But Coach Rutkjaer is clear on Greenland’s ambitions and why Concacaf is the perfect home for Greenland’s aspiring footballers.
“My hope is that we have a national stadium next year with a football field and a roof, then we can train all the year in Nuuk,” Rutkjaer said. “And it’s better that we become a member of Concacaf because our level is much more in line with the Caribbean islands.
“We could play Concacaf Nations League and World Cup qualification, at the preliminary stage, maybe over a period of 14 days, so it’s much easier for Greenland instead of Europe.
“This isn’t about Greenland playing the USA or Mexico, it’s about having the chance to play competitively against nations of a similar level and giving the players a dream to live.”
