Faroe Islands national football team

Infobox National football team
Name = Faroe Islands
Badge = Faroe Islands FA.png FIFA Trigramme = FRO
Nickname =
Association = Faroe Islands
Football Association
Confederation = UEFA (Europe)
Coach = flagicon|Faroe Islands Jógvan Martin Olsen (2005-)
Most caps = Óli Johannesen (83)
Top scorer = Rógvi Jacobsen (10)
Home Stadium = Tórsvøllur
FIFA Rank = 198 |1st ranking date = August 1993
FIFA max = 104
FIFA max date = July 1999
FIFA min = 198
FIFA min date = September 2008

Elo Rank = 173
Elo max = 143
Elo max date = July 1991
Captain = Jákup Mikkelsen
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=1560BD|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=1560BD|body2=1560BD|rightarm2=1560BD|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=1560BD

First game = Pre-1988:
Flagicon|Shetland Shetland 5 - 1 Faroe Islands Flagicon|Denmark (Lerwick, Shetland; June 10, 1930)
Post-1988:
Flagicon|Iceland Iceland 1 - 0 Faroe Islands flagicon|Faroe Islands (Akranes, Iceland; August 24, 1988)
Largest win = Unofficial:
Flagicon|Faroe Islands Faroe Islands 6 - 0 Greenland Flagicon|Greenland
(Sauðárkrókur, Iceland; 2 July 1980)
Flagicon|Faroe Islands Faroe Islands 7 - 1 Åland Islands Flagicon|Åland (Tórshavn, Faroe Islands; July 12, 1989)
Official:
flagicon|Faroe Islands Faroe Islands 3 - 0 Flagicon|San Marino San Marino
(Toftir, Faroe Islands; May 25, 1995)
Largest loss = Pre-1988:
Flagicon|Iceland Iceland 9 - 0 Faroe Islands Flagicon|Faroe Islands (Keflavík, Iceland; July 10, 1985)
Post-1988:
flagicon|Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 7 - 0 Flagicon|Faroe Islands Faroe Islands
(Belgrade, Yugoslavia; May 16, 1991)
flagicon|Romania Romania 7 - 0 Flagicon|Faroe Islands Faroe Islands
(Bucharest, Romania; May 6, 1992)
flagicon|Faroe Islands Faroe Islands 0 - 7 Flagicon|Norway Norway
(Toftir, Faroe Islands; August 11, 1993)
flagicon|Faroe Islands Faroe Islands 1 - 8 Flagicon|Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
(Toftir, Faroe Islands; October 6, 1996)
no World cup apps = 0
World cup first =
World cup best =
Regional name = European Championship
no Regional cup apps = 0
Regional cup first =
Regional cup best = 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.

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 June 2, 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 the Faroese side played two friendlies. First they lost 4-3 to Estonia on June 1st 2008, and this match has been credited at the only match, in which the Faroese side scored 3 goals, that they were disappointed about. 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, the match again Romania a few days later, almost gave the Faroes the first points in 4 years, since a surprise draw was in sight. However the match ended with a 1-0 defeat.

After announcing the squad to the matches against Austria and Lithuania, coach Jógvan Martin Olsen announced that he was stepping down after the matches.

Achievements

*Island Games: 2::1989, 1991The match with Austria ended with the score 1-1, this gaving Faroer Islands the firs point in this calification round

World Cup record

*1930 to 1990 - "Did not enter"
*1994 to 2006 - "Did not qualify"

European Championship record

*1960 to 1988 - "Did not enter"
*1992 to 2008 - "Did not qualify"

Coaches

*Flagicon|Iceland Páll Guðlaugsson (1990-1993)
*Flagicon|Denmark Allan Simonsen (1993-2001)
*Flagicon|Denmark Henrik Larsen (2001-2005)
*Flagicon|Faroe Islands Jógvan Martin Olsen (2005-2008)

Team captains

* Jóannes Jakobsen flagicon|Faroe Islands
* Óli Johannesen flagicon|Faroe Islands
* Jákup Mikkelsen flagicon|Faroe Islands

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. [ [http://www.football.fo/index.asp?id=&news={3329F28A-EA1B-4CD5-97ED-F47801D5748E} The full squad for the WC 2010 Qualifying internationals for the matches against Austria and Lithuania:] - September 29, 2008]

"Players in bold started against Portugal on August 20, 2008 [ [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=246145&league=FIFA.FRIENDLY&cc=5901 Portugal 5 - 0 Faroe Islands] - ESPN Match Report] "

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Forwards

FIFA World Cup qualification

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 7
expanded = yes
fixtures = yes
tiebreakers =

Former players

*Uni Arge
*Harley Bertholdsen
*Jan Dam
*Arnbjørn Danielsen
*Mikkjal Danielsen
*Eyðfinn Davidsen
*Bartal Eliasen
*Jonhard Frederiksberg
*Andreas F. Hansen
*Hans Fróði Hansen
*Jens Kristian Hansen
*Johan Byrial Hansen
*Julian Hansen
*Poul Enok Hansen
*Tummas Eli Hansen
*Øssur Hansen
*Ingi Højsted
*Mortan í Hørg
*Jóannes Jakobsen
*Henning Jarnskor
*Magni Jarnskor
*Allan Joensen
*Djóni N. Joensen
*Julian Johnsson
*Alvi Justinussen
*Claus Bech Jørgensen
*Jens Martin Knudsen
*Abraham Løkin Hansen
*Gunnar Mohr
*Jan Allan Müller
*Allan Mørkøre
*Kurt Mørkøre
*Kári Nielsen
*Torkil Nielsen
*Helgi L. Petersen
*Jann Ingi Petersen
*John Petersen
*Janus Rasmussen
*Jens Erik Rasmussen
*Páll á Reynatúgvu
*Kári Reynheim
*Jákup Símun Simonsen
*Albert Ari Thomassen
*Pól Thorsteinsson
*Todi Jónsson

External links

* [http://www.football.fo/ Official website]
* [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesf/far-intres.html RSSSF archive of results 1930-]
* [http://www.uefa.com/Competitions/EURO/Teams/Team=51218/index.html UEFA.com]
* [http://www.footballsupporters.fo Footballsupporters.fo] (12. Maður - "12th Man", the supporters of the Faroe Islands national football team)

References

* [http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6879478 Italy stutters to a 2-1 victory over Faroes] - foxsoccer.com, 6/2/07