May 29

May 29 Greenland FA Submits Application To Join CONCACAF

The Greenland FA has announced via social media that they have submitted an application to join CONCACAF. A quick history lesson for you fans out there that are not familiar with the country’s soccer background:

Greenland FA founded in 1971
Has never been recognized as a FIFA soccer nation due to previous regulations around maintaining playable fields (it gets very cold in Greenland)
With recent changes to FIFA field regulations, Greenland was able to install an artificial turf field in 2016 at their national stadium of Nuuk Stadium
Still not able to be a FIFA recognized nation due to other stadium regulations needed, but the Football Association is working on it’s national stadium
Greenland was once a member of the Confederation of Independent Associations but left in 2020 due to internal changes to the association
Greenland’s changes and updates to their national stadium along with this application to CONCACAF shows a new era and step forward in their soccer history

Now what does all of this mean for the Greenland FA? This is the largest step forward for the nation (soccer wise) if approved to join CONCACAF. Even if the country still isn’t recognized by FIFA, being able to field and play in CONCACAF competition will be the most consistent action this soccer-ing nation has ever seen. If admitted into CONCACAF, this would be the 7th nation in the federation to not be recognized by FIFA. They would be in familiar territory within CONCACAF and be able to take this as steps forward to becoming FIFA eligible.

Now, I am not familiar with current soccer players who have ties to Greenland or who would be eligible to play for the country… but I’d assume that with admission into CONCACAF, the Greenland FA would be able to pull some names to represent the country. This seems like not only an improvement and way to grow the game in Greenland, but also a way to help strengthen and grow CONCACAF. I would make an assumption that if handled correctly, Greenland could make a similar rise to Iceland and compete with some of the stronger sides of CONCACAF in a few years time. Let’s make this happen CONCACAF!