How to become an international team; who should join the Club World Cup?

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Hello! World Cup qualifying isn’t lighting Brazil’s fire. Greenland would just like a shot at it.

On the way:

A long road: Geography, politics and admin: How to build an international team

Intrepid viewers will find a little gem of a World Cup fixture later today, some way off the beaten track. It’s Iran against Uzbekistan at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran, part of the Asian Football Confederation’s qualifying schedule for next summer’s finals.

Iran, for their part, are World Cup regulars these days. American TAFC readers will have happy memories of Christian Pulisic taking them down in the group phase in Qatar four years ago, and not so happy memories of the Iranians putting the USMNT back in their box 2-1 during the same phase at France ’98. But Uzbekistan? Their record at FIFA’s big bash is a complete blank — to this point, at least.

A hold of nerve in the three qualifiers they have left, though, and the Uzbeks — captained by Roma’s Eldor Shomurodov and represented by recent Manchester City signing Abdukodir Khusanov (top image) — will be on their way to World Cup 2026. History is nigh and has been decades in the making.

Uzbekistan declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. It has been a member of FIFA since 1994, a relatively short stint of affiliation with the game’s worldwide governing body. But this is how it evolves for new or less mainstream footballing nations: acorns producing trees and everything predicated on becoming a recognised international team in the first place.

Right now, Greenland — population 57,000, part of the Kingdom of Denmark and controversially in the eyeline of the White House — is striving to gain that status by securing entry into CONCACAF, the FIFA body overseeing North and Central America and the Caribbean. It would make sense geographically and culturally, but as Nick Miller has been finding out, getting the green light for these things is nowhere near as easy as you’d think.

A feeling ‘you cannot describe’

Greenland’s mission for international acceptance goes back to the 1990s. They are caught up in a process that is fairly opaque, strangely inconsistent, bloated by paperwork and resistant to fast-tracking. European football’s governing body UEFA, for instance, has tighter rules around admissions than CONCACAF. Kosovo, once part of Yugoslavia, took more than one attempt before it was able to join UEFA in 2016.

To complicate matters further, FIFA’s statute book does not properly define what a country is. UEFA limits membership to territories “recognised as an independent state by the majority of members of the United Nations”, but go elsewhere on the planet and you’ll find Guam, Montserrat, Bermuda and Gibraltar and other sides contesting World Cup qualifiers despite their lack of independence.

To the people seeking to compete under their own flag, affiliation is no vanity project. One of those pushing Greenland’s claim, head coach Morten Rutkjaer, told Nick he would “cry a little bit” if and when they cleared the bar. Bajram Shala, who became Kosovo’s operations manager, said entry into UEFA was a feeling “you cannot describe”.

Even that is only the end of the beginning, especially today. The World Cup has expanded to include 48 of FIFA’s 211 member nations, bigger than ever before. The Uzbeks are this close to being first-time qualifiers, an example to others like them. In this era of international football, no reputation or patch of land is too small to dream. But nothing can happen without the name above the door.

News round-up

(ITV Sport)

🏆 A top showing from The Athletic at the UK’s Sports Journalists’ Association’s awards yesterday. Transfer legend and Ibiza enthusiast David Ornstein took the Sports Writer and Football News Reporter trophies and The Athletic was named Sports Content Organisation of the Year. Well in.

Apathy in Brazil: Stark contrast between Dorival Junior’s side and Argentina

Internationally, Argentina have never had it so good, or not since Diego Maradona walked on water. And unlike the days of Maradona, they’re learning to live without their star man. Lionel Messi won’t play for them against Brazil in this evening’s World Cup qualifier.

Across the border in Brazil, however, all you find is a rising tide of apathy. As Jack Lang writes today, the Brazilians cannot bottle lightning in the way Argentina have and their adoring public are switching off. The prevailing mood is that, tonight, the Selecao are showing up in Buenos Aires to lose.

Which is both realistic (because the form book weighs in Argentina’s favour) and odd. Brazil have Vinicius Junior. They have Raphinha, a fit-again Neymar, Rodrygo, Matheus Cunha, Ederson and a raft of capable names. But nothing I see of them convinces me that Dorival Junior is the coach to make them tick. As one Brazilian journalist said: “You need a magnifying glass to see progress.” Ouch.

• Tom Williams has covered another peculiar situation, Kylian Mbappe’s relationship with France’s national team. He’s back playing after a short absence and he’s got the captain’s armband, but as love affairs go, it’s quite stand-offish.

Ron more please: Who should replace Club Leon at CWC?

So, with Club Leon banished from the Club World Cup (CWC) at the 11th hour, who are we tipping to fill the void in the 32-team field?

(Getty Images)

If it’s not the standout fellow-Mexican alternative (Club America), then the diplomat in me says LAFC. Leon had qualified by winning the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League and it was LAFC they beat in the final. MLS Cup holders LA Galaxy deserve a mention, too, after Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami were surprisingly gifted a place ahead of them.

From a selfish point of view, I’d recommend my own club, Heart of Midlothian. It’s the best name in football and a share of a £1bn prize fund would buy the whole of the Scottish game, or thereabouts. Tim Spiers, meanwhile, is gently banging the drum for Wrexham — as if their trajectory isn’t rapid enough.

I’m calling it now, though: certain people in certain quarters will be desperate to invite Al Nassr. Messi’s been shoehorned into the event already. Cristiano Ronaldo in tandem would give FIFA all the king’s horses and all the king’s men. Don’t tell me Gianni’s not tempted.

• On the back of Leon’s expulsion, The Athletic FC weighed up the pros and cons of multi-club ownership (which only seems to be getting more prevalent). Listen on Apple and Spotify.

Around TAFC

• Mark Carey and Andy Jones spent time sifting through possible No 9 signings for Liverpool (hell, they need one for next season). After his winner against the USMNT on Sunday, it wasn’t a complete surprise to see Jonathan David’s name come up. The 25-year-old Canada forward has been banging the goals in for France’s Lille and better still, he’s set to be a free agent this summer.
• They called him ‘the next Xabi Alonso’, but a knee injury and five operations destroyed Marc Cucalon’s promise at Real Madrid. Now the 20-year-old says he’d simply like to be able to run without pain for 10 minutes straight. This is a great interview with him by Mario Cortegana.
• A bit more from Pol Ballus on Dean Huijsen, the immensely talented Bournemouth and Spain defender who we mentioned in dispatches yesterday. It won’t be long before the transfer rumours fire up. In fact, they already have.
• Why is there a drinking hole in Milan called ‘Nottingham Forest’? I couldn’t tell you, but Nick Miller can. He hit the bar to sample the cocktails and uncover the background, which randomly starts in neither the UK nor Italy, but the Caribbean.
• Steve Bruce’s managerial career is more than 1,000 games deep. He is past the point of coaching in the Premier League at 64 but is cracking on at Blackpool in England’s third tier. Phil Buckingham went to chat to him. It’s a story of longevity, nostalgia and loss.
• Most clicked in Monday’s TAFC: Jesse Marsch’s war of words with Donald Trump.

Catch a match

(Selected games, times ET/UK)

CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier: Argentina vs Brazil, 8pm/12am — Fubo, ViX/Premier Sports.

UEFA World Cup qualifiers: (both 3.45pm/7.45pm) Israel vs Norway — Fox Sports, Fubo/Viaplay; North Macedonia vs Wales — Fubo/BBC Sport.

AFC World Cup qualifier: China vs Australia, 7am/11am — OneFootball (UK only).

And finally…

(David Balogh/Getty Images)

With no love lost between them, Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai got a fingers-to-the-lips ‘shush’ from Arda Guler of Real Madrid (above) after the 20-year-old scored in Turkey’s 3-0 away win over Hungary in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday.

Szoboszlai later posted a reply to a post on Instagram about the incident, saying simply ‘1088’ — which happens to be the fleeting number of minutes accumulated this season at Madrid by Guler, a pretty public bone of contention for the Turk. Assuming we’re catching his drift, that’s some cerebral mockery right there.

(Top photo: Anvar Ilyasov/Getty Images)