Germany national team director Rudi Völler believes that the debate about boycotting the 2026 World Cup "pointless."

"It's pointless to discuss this. It achieves nothing and only harms the athletes," he told editors-in-chief at a conference hosted by dpa in Berlin on Monday.

The United States will co-host this year's World Cup with Mexico and Canada, but there's been some boycott considerations due to the idea of US President Donald Trump to take over Greenland and the military operation in Venezuela in early January.

The brutal actions of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of Trump's immigration crackdown has already resulted in the death of two US citizens and also sparked political debate.

Völler recalled his experiences as a young football player when several countries boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow and the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles for political reasons.

"I have always been against boycotts because they don't achieve anything," he said.

Völler doesn't want political issues like these to overshadow the national team's World Cup journey again.

"We are there to play football," he said.

According to Völler, discussions such as those during the World Cup in Qatar over the rainbow captain's armband, should not be repeated.

"Everyone can express their opinion and can also view things critically, but not on the day before the game," said the 1990 World Cup winner.