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11th June 2025
11:04am BST
The World Cup has officially blocked the nation of Greenland from competing.
Larger than the whole of Western Europe, 81% of this Arctic territory belonging to Denmark is sheeted by ice.
According to reports, the country was recently informed it cannot join the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), having first explored the possibility in 2022 when a route into the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) proved impassable.
The CONCACAF ruling committee "unanimously rejected" Greenland's membership application.
In a statement, they revealed: "Based on a thorough assessment conducted by the Concacaf administration and Council, and in accordance with the Concacaf Statutes, the Member Associations reviewed the membership application submitted by the Greenlandic Football Association and unanimously rejected it."
Despite boasting a population of just 57,000, Greenland, which has never played a sanctioned international match, has 5,500 registered footballers.
When it comes to next year's tournament held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the former's president Donald Trump suggested Russia would be allowed back into the competition if they ended their conflict with Ukraine.
During his administration's World Cup taskforce meeting last month, Trump sat beside FIFA president Gianna Infantino to discuss Russia's potential involvement in the beloved sporting event.
"They are banned for the time being from playing, but we hope that something happens and peace will happen so that Russia can be readmitted," claimed Infantino, per BBC.
"That's possible," added Trump. "Hey, that could be a good incentive, right? We want to get them to stop. 5,000 young people a week are being killed – it's not even believable."
The tournament kicks off on June 11, 2026 with the final set to be contested on July 19.
