Faroe Islands National Football Team - History

History

The Faroe Islands gained membership of FIFA on 2 July 1988 and joined UEFA on 18 April 1990.

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 a 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 pitches 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 until they won against Estonia in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying on June 7, 2011.

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 Faroe Islands 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. On September 9, 2009, Faroe Islands recorded their first competitive win since the 2002 World Cup qualification stage after beating Lithuania 2–1.

On 11 August 2010, the Faroe Islands came close to an 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.

Two Months later, on October 12, 2010, the Faroe Islands drew 1–1 with the higher ranked Northern Ireland at the Svangaskarð Stadion, Toftir. Striker Christian Holst scored for the Faroes in the 60th minute, before Kyle Lafferty equalised 16 minutes later for the visiting side, earning a point for both teams.

On 7 June 2011, the Faroe Islands defeated Estonia 2–0 at Svangaskarð. Captain Fróði Benjaminsen opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 43rd minute, before Arnbjørn Hansen then secured the win with a follow up after another Benjaminsen penalty. It was the Faroe Islands first UEFA Euro qualification win since 1995.

Faroe Islands were drawn against Kerr's former employers, the Republic of Ireland in Group C for the 2014 World Cup Qualifying. The other teams in the group are Germany, Sweden, Austria, and Kazakhstan.

On October 26, 2011 Brian Kerr stepped down as coach of the Faroe Islands national team, after Faroe Islands Football Association (FSF) announced that "it was not possible to agree a new contract with Brian Kerr".

On November 8, 2011 the Faroese Football Association announced that an agreement had been reached with the 50 year old former Denmark captain and European Champion from 1992, Lars Olsen, to become the next coach of the Faroe Islands. Lars Olsen is the third Dane to coach the Faroe Islands after Allan Simonsen and Henrik Larsen.