Germany considering US World Cup boycott

The German Football Association (DFB) is to decide whether the German national team will boycott the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in 11 US cities, Mexico and Canada.

DFB mulls 2026 FIFA World Cup boycott

The German government has said that the country’s football association can decide on whether Germany’s national team will boycott the FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada this summer.

Speaking to Bild over the weekend, Jürgen Hardt (CDU) said Germany dropping out of the tournament would be a possibility, but would “only be considered as a last resort in order to get Trump to see sense on the Greenland issue".

Another CDU politician, Roderich Kiesewetter, has since chimed in. Kiesewetter said that if Trump "puts his threats into practice and starts a trade war with the EU, I can hardly imagine that European countries will take part in the World Cup".

European leaders are grappling with how to respond to Trump’s threat that the US will impose a 10 percent import tariff - which would increase to 25 percent from June - on eight European countries which have opposed the president's plan to take over Greenland.

Federal Sports Minister Christiane Schenderlein (CDU) reiterated to the AFP that “decisions on participation or boycotts at major sporting events lie solely with the competent sports associations, not with politicians” but said that the government would accept the DFB’s decision

Nearly half of Germans in favour of World Cup boycott

A recent survey conducted by the INSA polling institute found that a considerable portion of the German population would be in favour of a ban.

47 percent of respondents said they would be in favour of the national team boycotting the US World Cup should Trump annex Greenland. 35 percent said they would be opposed to such a boycott.

While the DFB is yet to officially respond to the discussion about a ban, executive committee member Oke Göttlich said that the question of “whether Europeans should participate in a competition in a country that is indirectly attacking Europe and may soon do so directly” is “actually justified.”