First trophy is in the bag! German targets World Cup with tiny nation

First trophy is in the bag! German targets World Cup with tiny nation Forget Curaçao or Cape Verde — at the 2030 World Cup, a new mini-nation with a German coach wants to make a name for itself. “Qualifying for the 2030 World Cup is the main goal,” Lars Hopp recently emphasized to Bild . The 50-year-old has been coaching tiny Vanuatu for almost a year now. Luckily, he had already made himself popular among the island nation’s 350,000 inhabitants after just a few weeks. With the national team, he pulled off a bit of a surprise by winning the Melanesian Cup — Vanuatu’s first title in 35 years. “For me, it was a great start. The excitement in the country was enormous,” said Hopp, who then admitted that he had not known the Cup, which is a kind of Oceania championship. But he probably already knows his players very well. Because 17 national team players play for the island state’s first professional club — Vanuatu United. You get three guesses as to who coaches the team. That’s right, Lars Hopp as well. And of course, with great success too. In the newly founded OFC Pro League, featuring clubs from New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tahiti, and Vanuatu, United promptly reached the semifinals with Hopp in the very first season. So could the national team do the same at the 2030 World Cup? Hopp does not want to go that far yet, but the World Cup dream remains: “At the moment, we’re number three behind New Zealand and New Caledonia. Maybe we’ll make the playoffs someday ...” But first, they want to win the next title at the Melanesian Cup. After last year’s surprise triumph, Vanuatu is back in the final and will face Fiji on Saturday. So, we’re keeping our fingers crossed. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.