Denmark’s nationwide soccer workforce takes on North Macedonia in Copenhagen on Thursday, aiming to maneuver inside one recreation of qualification for this summer season’s FIFA World Cup within the United States, Canada and Mexico.
But given the US’ standing as a co-host and American President Donald Trump throwing the concept of an annexation of Greenland again into the worldwide geopolitical discourse as not too long ago as January, it gained’t simply be six million Danes watching.
Over 2,000 miles away, the lion’s share of 57,000 Greenlanders will even be watching the sport with bated breath, drawn not solely by the stakes on the pitch, however by what Denmark’s journey to a US-hosted World Cup represents off it.
“Greenlandic people cheer for Denmark,” Greenland males’s nationwide workforce captain Patrick Frederiksen instructed NCS Sports. “In soccer, handball (and) form of each sport as a result of we’re a part of the Danish kingdom, so we’re one with Denmark.
“When Denmark is playing, some Greenlandic players are cheering for them because it’s something we’ve grown up with. Some are even excited to see Denmark (potentially) qualify for the World Cup.”
However, like all sports activities, soccer is an emotional, results-driven enterprise, so fan help generally follows the scoreboard. “There’s a funny saying here: When Denmark wins, we win. But if Denmark loses, they lose,” chuckled Knud Olsen Egede, a lifelong Greenland fan.
As properly as being an in depth follower of the Greenlandic soccer workforce, Egede runs the youth workforce at Boldklubben af 1967 (B-67). B-67 is essentially the most profitable workforce in Greenlandic soccer historical past with 16 nationwide titles.
But with regards to worldwide soccer, he instructed NCS, “We’ve got no strings attached to them (Denmark) when they lose, but if they win, we are supporting the team.”
Egede’s remarks had been stated in jest however spoke to a deeper reality: The Greenlandic connection to Denmark is actual, but conditional.
And as has traditionally been the case between the 2, it has not at all times been voluntary.
What have to be understood is that Greenland is an island out on its personal by way of its aspirations to qualify for a World Cup – not to mention even competing in a single. At the very second the island has been combating for geopolitical recognition, it has confronted the same battle on the worldwide soccer stage.
It was slightly below a 12 months in the past that the Greenlandic Football Association (KAK) noticed its utility to affix Concacaf – the confederation which governs soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean – unanimously rejected in June 2025.
This led to stern criticism from KAK president Kenneth Kleist. “This is not a victory for football democracy,” he stated on the time to The Athletic.
“It does not make football accessible to everyone globally, and it shows that smaller nations are facing extreme difficulties in getting permission to play under their own flag.”
NCS Sports reached out to KAK concerning plans to enchantment Concacaf’s resolution, to which the nationwide soccer physique suggested that it didn’t want to remark on its worldwide standing right now.
Greenland’s FA can also be unable to affix UEFA, because the European governing physique typically solely admits nations acknowledged by the United Nations. And regardless of being a self-governing autonomous territory, Greenland is just not acknowledged as a sovereign state by the UN as it’s a part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Thus, as KAK is just not a member of Concacaf, UEFA or some other soccer federation, it’s unable to play aggressive worldwide fixtures.
Therefore, when Denmark takes to the pitch on Thursday evening, it does so not solely as a European nation of six million, however because the worldwide consultant of a kingdom that features a territory nonetheless combating for a voice in the identical enviornment.
One paradoxical side of the Danish-Greenlandic relationship is the constitutional association that stops Greenland from competing in worldwide soccer can also be what anchors it politically.
The island is a NATO member via its affiliation with Denmark, and NATO’s cornerstone is Article 5, which states, “An armed attack against one member is considered an attack against all.”
Denmark thus acts as a geopolitical protect for Greenland, one thing vitally essential at a time when the geopolitical local weather is as harsh as that on the island itself.
It was slightly below three months in the past, on January 3, that the US seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his spouse Cilia Flores from his Caracas compound within the lifeless of the evening.
Then not even two months had elapsed earlier than the United States launched joint airstrikes with Israel on Iran on February 28, which resulted within the assassination of its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and launched the ongoing war in the Middle East.
In between, there was a significant concern that the US would use some power on an allied nation to accumulate its territory. As not too long ago as January 19, Trump wouldn’t rule out utilizing army power to grab the island, resulting in a joint effort from several European NATO countries to ship troops to Greenland. He finally dropped the topic entirely after a gathering with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Until Trump started talking about acquiring Greenland, very few Danes thought very much about the ties to Greenland,” Peter Harmsen instructed NCS Sports, creator of the 2025 e book, “Greenland at War.”
“But now, at least part of the Danish population has realized they risk losing something valuable. If anything, (the relationship) has probably been strengthened by the pressure from Trump’s America.”
Greenland’s personal prime minister has been equally as direct.
At a joint information convention in Copenhagen on January 13 between himself and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Jens-Frederik Nielsen made the island’s place clear: “Greenland doesn’t wish to be owned by the USA.
“Greenland doesn’t wish to be ruled by the USA. Greenland won’t be a part of the USA. We select the Greenland we all know at the moment, which is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark
“Now, we are faced with a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the USA and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark.”
In different phrases, exterior strain has bolstered inside alignment.
“It’s hard to think of two people who are fundamentally more different than Danes and Greenlanders,” Harmsen defined. “That they may nevertheless stick together because of outside pressure almost has a poetic quality to it.”
For Greenlanders, supporting Denmark is each pure and sophisticated. It displays shared historical past, buildings, and ties, but additionally serves as a reminder of absence.
“We haven’t seen (many) Greenlandic players in the Danish national team, so we feel separate in that sense,” stated Greenlandic captain Frederiksen.
“They don’t look our way (and) scout for players in Greenland, so we need to be accepted as an independent country in football.”
That duality runs via the connection itself. Close, but distinct. Connected, but basically distant.
The posturing round Greenland usually overlooks the sentiments of the island’s 57,000 folks and what they search – recognition and the prospect to face on equal footing.
“It would be a childhood dream coming true,” stated Frederiksen, on what it might imply for Greenland to play its personal official worldwide matches or finally within the World Cup.
“We have always dreamed of participating in a big tournament representing Greenland. And watching Greenland on television as we watch Denmark. It (would) mean everything.”
Egede shared comparable sentiments.
“Just talking about it right now, I’m getting a bit emotional,” he candidly defined. “We want to be our own nation – and that’s the short message.”
For now, Greenland watches. But in the future, it hopes to be seen – each on and off the soccer pitch.