Trump’s Greenland push could cost US World Cup: Europe floats boycott

Rising tensions between the United States and Europe over Donald Trump’s aggressive pursuit of Greenland have prompted European leaders to explore a range of retaliatory measures, including a potential boycott of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States. 

According to British media, the prospect emerged as Trump announced tariffs on eight European nations—Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark—over their involvement in Greenland, a move critics have described as coercive and unprecedented. 

European officials have responded with strong language, accusing the U.S. of “blackmail” and “intimidation.”

While Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer struck a cautious tone, downplaying the risk of military escalation and emphasising reliance on U.S. intelligence and security, the mood in Brussels has reportedly hardened.

Diplomatic sources told The War Room newsletter that a boycott of the World Cup is being discussed as a symbolic gesture, echoing America’s 1980 Olympic boycott of Moscow following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Analysts warn that such a move could deepen the transatlantic rift. European nations have many levers for retaliation, and a World Cup boycott would send a highly visible political signal of discontent with U.S. actions in Greenland.

The situation is "fraught with danger,” said Shashank Joshi, author of The War Room. Europeans do not want to lose their principal ally, but economic coercion and threats of abandonment could push them toward symbolic but impactful actions, like sporting boycotts.

By Aghakazim Guliyev