If you didn’t know that Greenland plays international footballnow you do
It’s that huge strip of land between North America and Europe, which lies mostly within the Arctic Circle. It’s unmissable on a map, but few know much more about Greenland than its name.
This is a totally unique place. It is classified as the largest island in the world and yet it is also the most sparsely populated of all the countries on earth. About 80% of the land is covered by a layer of ice and the rest experiences persistent snow for up to eight months of the year.
The 56,000 people living in a harsh environment have fostered strong feelings of community and a clear sense of identity. Even with the challenges that come with the harsh climate, football is at the center of it, and serves to connect people. More than one in ten gamble regularly.
Greenland is on the periphery of international football. The national federation, Kalaallit Arsaattartut Kattuffiat (KAK), is not a member of FIFA, but in May submitted an application to join CONCACAF alongside the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Greenland could play in officially recognized international matches and compete in World Cup qualification. But it means more than that. “Young people can look at us and see that it is possible to be a high-level soccer player in Greenland. It’s a big dream for me to give it to them,” said head coach Morten Rutkjaer. BBC Sport when the CONCACAF application came in.
In September, the national team signed a four-year partnership with hummel, who have now created a stunning new home kit inspired directly by Greenlandic culture.
“In Greenland, soccer is more than a game, it’s a community,” explained Morten Lund, Marketing Director of hummel.
“It unites genders, generations and professions, and reminds us that, despite great geographical distances, we are stronger together. That is why the new jersey of the national team is also a symbol of pride, strength and community spirit that they encapsulate the spirit of the selection. Greenlandic people.”
The heritage and culture of Greenland is woven right into the fabric of the shirt.
It is, in itself, a celebration of Greenland, with the pattern featuring tupilaks and tuukkaq’er symbols, rooted in local mythology, representing strength and spiritual guidance and courage respectively.
There is a tribute to arts and crafts, with avitta patterns also prominent: they are commonly found in national costumes and kamiks, a type of footwear commonly used by the indigenous peoples of the Arctic.
The red body and white side panels, meanwhile, represent the colors of the national flag: red and white horizontal halves with inverted red and white semicircles. The classic hummel bumblebee and unmistakable double chevron complete the overall look.
“It tells the story of who we are as a people and what we stand for. It symbolizes our culture, our history and the strong community created by soccer,” said KAK President Kenneth Kleist.
Greenland, so relatively unknown (only 130,000 visitors a year), largely due to a lack of prior widespread accessibility, wants to share its culture with the wider world.
In the capital of Nuuk, a rebuilt airport opened at the end of November with the new capacity to handle international flights, linking the city directly to Copenhagen. Other routes to New York and Iceland will soon follow. Before, to travel to Nuuk, a picturesque setting of colorful wooden houses overlooking the sea, you had to travel about 200 miles north to a remote former US military base. Another old remote base in the far south did a similar job.
“We’ve been closed off from the whole world and now we’re going to open up to the world,” one resident summed up the situation. BBC recently
It has already been estimated that each flight could add $200,000 (£157,000) to Greenland’s economy, while travel within a country with just 56 miles of paved roads will be opened up much more via two international airports more, one to the north and another. in the south, in 2026.
Football, a truly global language, is Greenland’s other vehicle for sharing itself with the world.
