Faroe Islands national football team
| Association | Faroe Islands Football Association |
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| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Head coach |  Jógvan Martin Olsen (2005-) |
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| Captain | Jákup Mikkelsen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Most caps | Óli Johannesen (83) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top scorer | Rógvi Jacobsen (10) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home stadium | Tórsvøllur | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA code | FRO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIFA ranking | 186 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 104 (July 1999) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 198 (September 2008) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elo ranking | 173 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest Elo ranking | 143 (July 1991) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| First international | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pre-1988: Shetland 5 - 1 Faroe Islands  (Lerwick, Shetland; June 10, 1930) Post-1988:  Iceland 1 - 0 Faroe Islands (Akranes, Iceland; August 24, 1988) |
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| Biggest win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unofficial: Faroe Islands 6 - 0 Greenland  (Sauðárkrókur, Iceland; 2 July 1980) Faroe Islands 7 - 1 Åland Islands  (Tórshavn, Faroe Islands; July 12, 1989) Official: Faroe Islands 3 - 0  San Marino(Toftir, Faroe Islands; May 25, 1995) |
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| Biggest defeat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pre-1988: Iceland 9 - 0 Faroe Islands (Keflavík, Iceland; July 10, 1985) Post-1988:  Yugoslavia 7 - 0 Faroe Islands(Belgrade, Yugoslavia; May 16, 1991)  Romania 7 - 0 Faroe Islands(Bucharest, Romania; May 6, 1992) Faroe Islands 0 - 7  Norway(Toftir, Faroe Islands; August 11, 1993) Faroe Islands 1 - 8 Yugoslavia(Toftir, Faroe Islands; October 6, 1996) |
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The Faroe Islands national football team is the national football team of Faroe Islands and is controlled by the Faroe Islands Football Association. It is considered one of the weakest members of UEFA and has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition.
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History
The Faroe Islands gained membership of FIFA and UEFA in 1988.
Although the national team has been in existence since 1930, neither FIFA nor the Faroese FA considers matches before 1988 as official. Faroe Islands pulled one of the biggest upsets in footballing history when they beat Austria 1-0 in their first ever competitive international on 12 September, 1990. The game, a Euro 92 qualifier, was played in Landskrona, Sweden because there were no grass fields on the Islands. (Their only other point of the campaign was from a draw against Northern Ireland.) During both the Euro 2000 qualifiers and Euro 2004 qualifiers, they also held Scotland to a draw at home (they also drew with Lithuania and Bosnia in 2000, while the draw against the Scots was their only point of the 2004 campaign). The nation's only other wins in European Championship qualifying are in the 1996 tournament, against fellow minnows San Marino.
The team has participated in FIFA World Cup qualifying since 1992. They finished the qualification rounds for the 1994 finals without scoring any points and having 1-38 goal difference from 10 matches. In qualification for the 1998 finals, they improved their record with two victories against Malta, beating them 2-1 in both matches. Their most successful World Cup qualifying so far was the 2002 finals, where they held Slovenia to a 2-2 draw at home and beat Luxembourg twice, 2-0 on road and 1-0 at home. The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying was, however, not a success for the team and they only earned a single point from a 2-2 away draw against Cyprus.
On 2 June, 2007, in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Italy, the Faroes surprisingly took the sluggish world champions to the limit after netting a 77th-minute goal in a 2-1 loss. Overall, their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign was disastrous, as they conceded 43 goals and scored only four (all of which were scored by the same player, Rógvi Jacobsen, and half of which were against Italy) en route to losing all twelve matches.
During the summer of 2008 the Faroese side played two friendlies. First they lost 4-3 to Estonia on 1 June 2008, and this match has been credited at the only official international in which the Faroese side scored 3 goals. Later they lost 5-0 to Portugal.
The Faroe Islands began the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying round with a 2-0 defeat to Serbia. However, in the match against Romania a few days later, the Faroes' defence held out for almost an hour, but the match ended with a 1-0 defeat. Their next match, against Austria on 11 October 2008, ended 1-1, giving the Faroe Islands their first qualifying point for four years.
After announcing the squad to the matches against Austria and Lithuania, coach Jógvan Martin Olsen announced that he was to step down after three years in charge.
Achievements
- Island Games: 2
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- 1989, 1991
World Cup record
European Championship record
Coaches
- Páll Guðlaugsson (1990-1993)
- Allan Simonsen (1993-2001)
- Henrik Larsen (2001-2005)
- Jógvan Martin Olsen (2005-2008)
Team captains
- Jóannes Jakobsen
- Óli Johannesen
- Jákup Mikkelsen
Most capped players
1. Óli Johannesen (83)
2. Jens Martin Knudsen (65)
3. Julian Johnsson (62)
4. John Petersen (57)
5. Allan Mørkøre (54)
6. Øssur Hansen (51)
Top goalscorers
1. Rógvi Jacobsen (10)
2. Todi Jónsson (9)
3. John Petersen (8)
3. Uni Arge (8)
Current Squad
The following players were called up on 29 September for the WC 2010 Qualifying matches against Austria and Lithuania on 11 October and 15 October 2008. As of 29 September 2008.[1]
Players in bold started against Portugal on August 20, 2008[2]
Goalkeepers
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Defenders
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Midfielders
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Forwards
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FIFA World Cup qualification
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Former players
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External links
- Official website
- RSSSF archive of results 1930-
- UEFA.com
- Footballsupporters.fo (12. Maður - "12th Man", the supporters of the Faroe Islands national football team)
References
- ↑ The full squad for the WC 2010 Qualifying internationals for the matches against Austria and Lithuania: - September 29, 2008
- ↑ Portugal 5 - 0 Faroe Islands - ESPN Match Report
- Italy stutters to a 2-1 victory over Faroes - foxsoccer.com, 6/2/07
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International football
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