City of Longyearbyen, Svalbard R. Henrik Nilsson — CC BY 4.0 — via Wikimedia Commons In addition to the freezing cold and the threat of polar bears, a city in the far north of the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard has another curious characteristic: some say that in Longyearbyen it is forbidden to die. ?? This Sunday (5), the Brazilian team faces Norway in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup. TV Globo, Sportv and GETV broadcast live. You can also watch the games on the real-time page on ge.globo, in addition to seeing exclusive cuts. ? The statement seems absurd, but it was born from a real government decision. But wait, it's not exactly that. Heat wave is the team's main concern in training before facing Norway. In fact, it is not illegal to die in Longyearbyen, especially because it would be impossible to prohibit. But the city has measures that seem to want to scare away the dead: The local cemetery stopped allowing burials of bodies in 1950 The municipality does not have infrastructure for people who need continuous care, such as the elderly and patients in palliative care Follow the World Cup on ge: World Cup 2026 simulator World Cup 2026 calendar: see dates and times of all games RESULTS: check the World Cup table The end of burials The main reason Longyearbyen doesn't bury the dead is "permafrost", the permanently frozen layer of soil that covers much of the archipelago. As the ground practically never thaws, buried bodies do not decompose normally and remain preserved for many years. The risk here is that microorganisms are also preserved for longer. As proof of this, researchers have already found traces of the Spanish flu virus in victims buried in the local cemetery during the disease epidemic in 1918. Given these conditions, the Longyearbyen cemetery stopped receiving new burials of bodies in 1950. No structure for those who are dying Since the end of burials, the city has also come to reflect another local reality: as it is a small and isolated settlement, Longyearbyen does not have the structure to offer long-term care, such as permanent assistance to elderly or palliative care. When a resident starts to need this type of care, they are usually transferred to the Norwegian mainland. The myth of illegal death What started the idea that the island does not allow deaths was a BBC report from 2008. In the text, the reporter described Longyearbyen as "the city where dying is prohibited", drawing attention to the fact that the local cemetery had stopped receiving new burials decades before and that terminally ill residents used to be transferred to the Norwegian mainland. Years later, "Waffles at Noon", an American website known for debunking urban legends, set out to clarify the story. To the page, the local governor's office in 2013 responded that although it is not illegal to die in the city, the place is not a "cradle to grave" community. In other words, it is not a place to spend your whole life. The same idea appears in a government document released to the population. In this text, local authorities explain that "public services in important areas, such as health and social assistance, are non-existent or limited". As a result, the city does not have a maternity ward and encourages pregnant women to travel to the mainland three weeks before their due date, to give birth in an equipped hospital. In the end, neither birth nor death is illegal in Longyearbyen, but neither are they encouraged by local conditions.