Greenland national football team: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 14:47, 8 July 2024

The Greenland national football team (Danish: Grønlands fodboldlandshold) represents Greenlandinnon-FIFA international tournaments. It is controlled by the Football Association of Greenland.^[2] Although it has the same status as the Faroe Islands within the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is not, unlike the Faroe Islands national football team, a member of FIFA nor of any continental confederation and therefore is not eligible to enter the World Cup or other sanctioned tournaments. Most of the matches they have played have been against the Faroe Islands and Iceland, but neither of the two consider those games full internationals. In May 2024, it was announced that Greenland had officially applied to become a member of CONCACAF.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Overview[edit]

History[edit]

The Football Association of Greenland was founded in 1971 to oversee the development of football in the territory, although an island-wide club championship had been held regularly since 1954. Greenland played its first international match on 2 July 1980 against another Danish territory, the Faroe Islands, losing 6–0. The match was played in SauðárkrókurinIceland as part of the Greenland Cup, a friendly tournament. In their second match on 3 July, Greenland played the hosts and full FIFA members IcelandinHúsavík, losing 4–1, finishing third in the tournament.

Three years later, they hosted the second Greenland Cup, however the 1983 format consisted of a single match between Greenland and the Faroe Islands to determine the winner. Played on 29 June in Nuuk, the match finished 0–0. Therefore, a few days later, on 3 July the match was replayed, this time ending in a 3–2 victory for the Faroese.

The third and final Greenland Cup was played in the Faroe Islands in 1984, and saw Iceland's return to the competition. In their opening match on 3 August, Greenland were narrowly defeated 1–0 by Iceland in Fuglafjørður. Two days later, they were once again defeated 1–0 by the Faroe Islands in Klaksvík, and finished third in the tournament as in 1980. Shortly after the tournament, they played a friendly match against the Faroese on 7 August in Tórshavn, they lost 4–2.

Greenland is a member of the International Island Games Association and has taken part in Football at the Island Games. Since 13 October 2005, it is a provisional member of the N.F.-Board and since 25 March 2006 it is full-member. On 17 October 2009, the team was accepted as a provisional member of the IFU. Greenland also played Tibet, another non-FIFA team, in 2001 at Copenhagen's Vanløse Arena. However, the team was composed of players who were of Tibetan heritage and not from Tibet themselves. The match drew international attention when China threatened to embargo Greenland's shrimp exports because of Tibet's contested sovereignty. Greenland won the match 4–1.^[8]^[9]

Future international participation[edit]

Greenland has been seeking to participate in confederated football since at least 1998 when then national team manager Sepp Piontek stated that he had already asked UEFA to look into the possibility of Greenland becoming a member of the organization.^[10] About the issue, former DBU president Allan Hansen stated, "Concerning the GBU, I’m not convinced [they] officially applied for FIFA and UEFA membership at around the same time as Gibraltar. As I’m informed, the GBU in the late nineties sent a letter [requesting clarification on a number of issues] but..there were no follow-up actions." Additionally, he stated, "I can't foretell what will happen in the future, but I have attended a meeting with UEFA, DBU and GBU and I'm convinced that the day DBU and GBU present a partnership agreement and a road-map for the development of Greenlandic football, UEFA will be ready to discuss options for supporting the development of Greenlandic football as well as football on an administrative level."^[11] However, another report from 2010 states that an application was submitted but other factors such as the admittance of former Soviet and Yugoslav nations made for bad timing of the application.^[12]

FIFA's approval of FieldTurf may allow Greenland to create FIFA-standard playing pitches and apply to play full internationals, as natural grass is virtually illegal in Greenland. The first artificial turf in Greenland was completed and inaugurated in Qaqortoq in September 2009. On 13 September 2010, FIFA president Sepp Blatter arrived in Qaqortoq and announced FIFA's approval of the new field, which is seen as a major step towards the country being granted FIFA membership.^[13]

In 2011, Allan Hansen, chairman of the Danish Football Association stated that he did not believe that Greenland had the opportunity to become a member of FIFA or a confederation immediately. However, in December 2014 the DBU and Greenland's GBU formed a partnership with the aim of having Greenland included as a UEFA and FIFA member by 2020. One of the greatest barriers to admittance at that time was FIFA's strict regulations on stadiums and playing surfaces. The DBU's support of a Greenlandic application to FIFA included financial support which would be used to replace the clay courts of at least one field in each of the country's four municipalities, with artificial turf. Additionally, it was announced in May 2015 the national government had allocated one million dollars to design a plan for the construction of a new covered national stadiuminNuuk.^[14] The intentions of the plan were to design a covered and heated facility that would have a capacity of several thousand spectators, with the plan to be presented to the Parliament of Greenland later in the autumn session of 2016.^[15] Although unrelated to the stadium proposal, the first artificial pitch was laid in Nuuk, the country's capital, in June 2015^[16] and at the national stadium in July 2016.^[17]

Before becoming a member of FIFA, Greenland would be required to be a member of a continental confederation. The most viable solutions would be to join UEFAorCONCACAF due to political links and geographical proximity, respectively. However, the former requires new members to be recognized by the United Nations as fully independent.^[18]

It was believed that UEFA would vote to change its membership requirements at the 41st Annual Congress held in Helsinki, Finland so that they were more in line with those of FIFA which allows non-independent states under certain conditions. At that time DBU chair Allan Hansen said, "Greenland is in a pre-membership stage right now. I'm a lot more optimistic than I was five years ago." At that time, GBU chair John Thorsen expected that if UEFA changes its membership requirement, Greenland could have an application together by 2020.^[19] However, after the UEFA Congress, no mention of a rule change was made.^[20]

In May 2022 it was announced that Greenland had officially begun the process of becoming a member of CONCACAF and was expected to attend the body's next congress with observer status.^[3] It was anticipated that the association would submit its formal application by 2024 or 2025. The same challenges of the past, including lack of sufficient infrastructure, were expected to prolong the application process.^[21] Shortly thereafter it was revealed that the association and head coach Morten Rutkjær had begun to identify players in Denmark who have Greenlandic roots. The association also appealed to UEFA for permission to play friendlies against San Marino and Gibraltar but were denied as it was outside of the FIFA match day window. Instead Greenland participated in a tournament in Turkey in September 2022.^[22]

Kenneth Kleist was elected new president of the KAK in October 2023. At that time, he announced the association's intentions to apply for full CONCACAF membership in 2024. The plan was to hopefully submit the application on 21 June, Greenland National Day.^[23] At that time, he also stated that the association had been informed that it was "quite close to admission" in the confederation.^[24] On 13 May 2024, the Football Association of Greenland formally submitted its application to become the 42nd members of CONCACAF.^[25] The team scheduled a match against Turkmenistan the following month as part of a training camp in Turkey.^[26] Greenland went on to lose the match 0-5.^[27]

Team image[edit]

Stadium[edit]

The team currently plays its home matches at Nuuk Stadium in Greenland's capital of Nuuk. The Arktisk Stadion is a proposed new national stadium which would meet the requirements of international football confederations.

Kit[edit]

Results and fixtures[edit]

2023[edit]

2024[edit]

Coaching staff[edit]

Current coaching staff[edit]

Position	Name
Head coach	Morten Rutkjær
Coaching staff	Nukannguaq Zeeb Morten Hamm Mikkel Kvist Willumsen
Physiotherapist(s)	Steen Cortsen

Manager history[edit]

No.	Name	Period
1	Niels Møller	1977–1980
2	Uvdlo Jakobsen Elisaeus Kreutzmann	1983
3	Lars Lundblad	1984–1986
4	Simon Simonsen	1989–1991
5	Isak Nielsen Kleist	1993–1995
6	Ulf Abrahamsen	1996
7	Lars Olsvig Jens Jorgen Egede	1997–1999
8	Sepp Piontek	2000–2002
9	Jens Tang Olesen Kristian Lyberth	2003–2004
10	Sepp Piontek	2004
11	Jens Tang Olesen Hans Frederik Olsen	2004–2010
12	René Olsen → Tønnes Berthelsen (co-manager) → Tekle Ghebrelul (co-manager)	2010–2019 2010–2012 2013–2019^[29]
13	Morten Rutkjær	2020–present^[30]

Players[edit]

Current squad[edit]

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Club
1GK	Brian Rosing Kleist	(1994-11-28) 28 November 1994 (age 29)	B-67 Nuuk
1GK	Peter Berthelsen	(2000-01-29) 29 January 2000 (age 24)	Nagdlunguaq-48

2DF	Morten Fleischer	(1990-03-06) 6 March 1990 (age 34)	B-67 Nuuk
2DF	Adam Ejler	(2004-01-13) 13 January 2004 (age 20)	Holbæk B&I
2DF	Nuukanguaq Zeeb	(1982-07-09) 9 July 1982 (age 42)	Disko-76
2DF	Katu Madsen	(1987-06-04) 4 June 1987 (age 37)	Inuit Timersoqatigiiffiat-79
2DF	Kunuuteeraq Isaksen	(1995-10-28) 28 October 1995 (age 28)	Nagdlunguaq-48
2DF	Mika Thyssen	(1996-11-28) 28 November 1996 (age 27)	Inuit Timersoqatigiiffiat-79
2DF	Morten Nystrup	(1996-08-31) 31 August 1996 (age 27)	B-67 Nuuk

3MF	Nikki Petersen	(1992-02-06) 6 February 1992 (age 32)	B-67 Nuuk
3MF	Søren Kristiansen	(1996-07-06) 6 July 1996 (age 28)	UB-83 Upernavik
3MF	Ari Hermann	(1997-09-06) 6 September 1997 (age 26)	B-67 Nuuk
3MF	Rene Eriksen Petersen	(2001-06-11) 11 June 2001 (age 23)	Klaksvik
3MF	Mathias Christensen	(2001-11-10) 10 November 2001 (age 22)	FC Helsingør
3MF	Karsten Møller Andersen	(1999-11-28) 28 November 1999 (age 24)	B-67 Nuuk

4FW	John-Ludvig Broberg	(1990-11-19) 19 November 1990 (age 33)	B-67 Nuuk
4FW	Nemo Thomsen	(2004-04-05) 5 April 2004 (age 20)	Holbæk B&I
4FW	Søren Kreutzmann	(1994-12-05) 5 December 1994 (age 29)	B-67 Nuuk
4FW	Niels-Erik Eriksen	(1986-05-29) 29 May 1986 (age 38)	G-44 Qeqertarsuaq

Player records[edit]

Most capped players[edit]

Rank	Name	Caps	Goals	Career
1	Anders H. Petersen	24	6	2001–2017
2	Aputsiaq Birch	19	0	2005–2017
3	John Rasmus Eldevig	18	1	2003–2013
4	Maasi Maqe	16	1	2009–2015
John-Ludvig Broberg	16	6	2011–present
6	Kaali Lund Mathæussen	15	4	2009–2017
7	Norsaq Lund Mathæussen	14	9	2011–2017
Peri Fleischer	4	2003–2009
Niklas Kreutzmann	4	2003–2006
Kaassannguaq Zeeb	1	2005–2015
Nukannguaq Zeeb	1	2011–2023

Top goalscorers[edit]

Rank	Name	Goals	Caps	Ratio	Career
1	Norsaq Lund Mathæussen	9	14	0.64	2011–2017
2	Jan Nielsen	8	—	—	?
3	Vitus Kofoed	7	4	1.75	2003
4	Nemo Thomsen	6	5	1.2	2020–present
Pavia Mølgaard	6	1	2009–2011
John-Ludvig Broberg	16	0.38	2011–present
Anders H. Petersen	24	0.25	2001–2017
8	Leifeeraq Karlsen	5	9	0.56	2003–2005
9	Peri Fleischer	4	14	0.29	2003–2009
Niklas Kreutzmann	14	0.29	2003–2006
Kaali Lund Mathæussen	15	0.27	2009–2017

Competitive record[edit]

VIVA World Cup / ConIFA World Football Cup record[edit]

VIVA World Cup / ConIFA World Football Cup record		Qualification record
Year	Result	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
2006	Did not enter	Did not enter
2008
2009
2010
2012
2014	Not member of ConIFA	Not member of ConIFA
2016	Did not enter	Did not enter
2018	Did not qualify	5	2	2	1	7	9
2024	Did not enter	Did not enter
Total	—	0/8	–	–	–	–	–	–	5	2	2	1	7	9

FIFI Wild Cup participation[edit]

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
FC St. Pauli 2006 FIFI Wild Cup	Group stage	5th	2	0	0	2	2	5
Total	Group stage	5th	2	0	0	2	2	5

ELF Cup participation[edit]

Greenland was eliminated in Round 1 of the ELF Cup. They played three matches in total, beating the national team of Gagauzia 2–0, drawing 1–1 with Zanzibar and losing 1–0 to Kyrgyzstan.

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