The Hotspot | ‘This may be our last chance’: rising sea levels threaten Kiribati’s World Cup dream

In today’s newsletter: the Pacific islands hoping to enter World Cup qualifying before ocean level increase wipes them from the map

“This is not just about football, it’s about building something from scratch,” Eriati Reebo, the Kiribati football president, explains. “A legacy, a story, that the world will always remember.”

Kiribati, a group of Pacific islands south of Hawaii with 138,000 inhabitants, is seeking entry into World Cup qualifying for the 2030 tournament. Becoming a recognised international football team would help bring attention to the only nation on earth that sits within all four hemispheres, and one that is rapidly disappearing from the map. It could be the first, but certainly not the last, country to be engulfed by sea water, leaving it uninhabitable. And before that happens, it wants to professionalise the football setup and become a full member of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). This would both create a route to competing with bigger nations and help keep the Kiribati spirit alive.

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