Faroe Islands national football team
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| Association | Faroe Islands Football Association |
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| Confederation | UEFA (Europe) | ||
| Head coach |  Brian Kerr |
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| Asst coach | John McDonnell |
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| Captain | Fróði Benjaminsen | ||
| Most caps | Óli Johannesen (83) | ||
| Top scorer | Rogvi Jacobsen (10) | ||
| Home stadium | Tórsvøllur and Svangaskarð | ||
| FIFA code | FRO | ||
| FIFA ranking | 117 | ||
| Highest FIFA ranking | 94 (December 1992) | ||
| Lowest FIFA ranking | 198 (September 2008) | ||
| Elo ranking | 161 | ||
| Highest Elo ranking | 143 (July 1991) | ||
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| First international | |||
Pre-1988: Shetland 5–1 Faroe Islands  (Lerwick, Shetland; June 9, 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 Football Club, 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, although it has made credible progress in the last few years.
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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. The first official victory was a 1-0 win, in friendly against Canada in 1989. 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 were in the 1996 tournament, with two wins against 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 and lost. Later they lost 5-0 to Portugal.
The Faroe Islands began the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying round with a 2-0 loss 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.
On March 22, 2009 the Faroe Islands played Iceland in a Friendly match and beat them 2-1. It was the first time they had ever won against Iceland.
On April 5, 2009 former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr was appointed new manager of the team.[1] On September 9, 2009, Faroe Islands recorded their first competitive win since the 2002 World Cup qualification stage after beating Lithuania 2-1.[2]
On August 11, 2010, the Faroe Islands came close to a away win in Estonia during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers. The Faroes took the lead in the first half with a goal by Jóan Símun Edmundsson. The score was still 1-0 after 90 minutes played, but Estonia scored twice during stoppage time and Faroe Islands lost the match 2-1.
In August of 2007 Faroe islands got their most famous win in a friendly against France, it finished 1-0 to the islanders benefiting from a Squillaci own goal in the 53rd minute.
Achievements
- Island Games: Winners
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- 1989, 1991
World Cup record
European Championship record
Coaches
- Páll Guðlaugsson (1988–1993)
- Johan 'Melle' Nielsen & Jógvan Norðbúð (caretakers, 1993)
Allan Simonsen (1994–2001)- Henrik Larsen (2002–2005)
- Jógvan Martin Olsen (2006–2008)
- Heðin Askham (caretaker, 2009)
- Brian Kerr (2009 to date)
Team captains
- Jóannes Jakobsen
- Jens Martin Knudsen
- Jan Dam
- Jens Kristian Hansen
- Óli Johannesen
- Jákup Mikkelsen
- Fróði Benjaminsen (Current)
Most capped players
1. Óli Johannesen (83)
2. Jakup Mikkelsen (67)
3. Jens Martin Knudsen (65)
4. Julian Johnsson (62)
5. Jákup á Borg (62)
6. Fródi Benjaminsen (60)
7. John Petersen (57)
8. Allan Mørkøre (54)
9. Rógvi Jacobsen (52)
10. Øssur Hansen (51)
Top goalscorers
1. Rógvi Jacobsen (10)
2. Todi Jónsson (9)
3. John Petersen (8)
3. Uni Arge (8)
Current squad
The squad named for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers against Serbia and Italy on the 3rd and 7th September 2010.[3]
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Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Faroe Islands squad within the last twelve months.
Future Matches
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
External links
References
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