Country where football can only be played one week per year wants to be recognised by FIFA

For a country to play in the World Cup, they need to have a national team which is recognised by FIFA and one country is still holding out to make it count.

Greenland is the largest island in the world but has a population of just 55,000 people - largely due to the extreme weather conditions which can drop to a ridiculous -60 degrees celsius.

The territory in the Kingdom of Denmark, which has an ice shelf which covers 80% of its lands, has its own football team and national team stadium.

They played their very first international fixture in 1980, losing to neighbouring Faroe Islands.

But unlike the Faroe Islands, they have never been considered a member of FIFA or UEFA and typically only play friendlies or matches in the Island Games or Greenland cup.

Their last fixture was a 5-0 defeat to Turkmenistan in Turkey in June last year and though they have been lobbying to receive approval from FIFA since 1998, they are forced to play games infrequently.

As detailed by Tifo Football by The Athletic, a lack of grass pictures because of the conditions makes it harder to get games on but incredibly 10% of the population are registered to play for the national team and there is a league which has to be played over a week in the summer because of transport difficulties.

Amidst political tensions, Gibraltar and Kosovo have been recognised by both UEFA and FIFA yet Greenland have not yet been successful in their efforts.

However, for a number of years there have been discussions about attempting to secure recognition from CONCACAF, (the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football).

In May 2024, an official application was submitted by the Greenland FA but there has not yet been any movement on whether they have got the green light.

There are currently 41 members in CONCACAF, including the United States, Mexico, Canada, Jamaica and Costa Rica.

Members of the public play football in arctic conditions in Greenland. Image: Getty

And in an interesting development during his successful re-election campaign, President Donald Trump revealed his intentions of buying Greenland from Denmark.

He had spoken about a potential acquisition in 2019 and earlier this year, claimed he was confident of it going through.

"I think the people want to be with us," Trump said when asked about the island in the press room on Air Force One.

"I don't really know what claim Denmark has to it, but it would be a very unfriendly act if they didn't allow that to happen because it's for the protection of the free world.

"I think Greenland we'll get because it has to do with freedom of the world.

"It has nothing to do with the United States other than that we're the one that can provide the freedom. They can't."

The US has long been linked with a deal but both prime ministers of Greenland and Denmark have stressed that they will not entertain a sale.