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Faroes dream big: tiny island nation one game from a miracle
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Reading Time: 2min | Fri. 14.11.25. | 17:00
Faroe Islands' part-timers chase the dream no one thought possible. Tonight could be THAT night (10. 45 pm)
The Faroe Islands - 55,000 souls, part-timers, and a coach who writes crime novels - are standing on the brink of the unthinkable: a shot at the 2026 World Cup.
Ranked 127th in the world, this footballing David has ripped up the script with four wins in their last five qualifiers, including a stunning 2–1 triumph over the Czech Republic. Now they head into Friday's showdown needing not only to topple mighty Croatia (10.45 pm), but also hope the Czechs slip against Gibraltar. Impossible? For the Faroes, nothing is.
Coach Eydun Klakstein, journalist by day and novelist by night, has turned the team into a Nordic fable, reports AFP.
"We are shaped by wind and rain," he wrote in a rallying cry titled Against the wind, against the odds. "We do not back down."
This is a nation with more sheep than people, a stadium that fits 6,000, and a squad featuring a carpenter, a teacher, a furniture salesman. Yet suddenly they're scaring Europe's giants. Even Croatia escaped Torshavn with only a 1-0 win.
A decade-long push in youth football, Belgium-inspired training methods, open pitches in every village, and raw Faroese toughness have produced a generation that refuses to accept limits.
Whatever happens now, the islands halfway between Scotland and Iceland have already delivered one of football's great underdog stories.
But beat Croatia… and the miracle becomes real.
2026 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - EUROPE
Thursday
Armenia - Hungary 0-1 (0-1)
/Varga 33/
Azerbaijan - Iceland 0-2 (0-2)
/Gudmundsson A. 20, Ingason 39/
Norway - Estonia 4-1 (0-0)
/Sorloth 50, 52, Haaland 56, 62 - Saarma 65/
Andorra - Albania 0-1 (0-0)
/Asllani 67/
England - Serbia 2-0 (1-0)
/Saka 28, Eze 90/
France - Ukraine 4-0 (0-0)
/Mbappe 55 pen, 83, Olise 76, Ekitike 88/
Moldova - Italy 0-2 (0-0)
/Mancini 88, Esposito 90+3/
Republic of Ireland - Portugal 2-0 (2-0)
/Parrott 17, 45/
Friday
20.00: (1.33) Finland (5.40) Malta (11.0)
22.45: (1.12) Croatia (10.0) Faroe I. (25.0)
22.45: (15.0) Gibraltar (6.25) Montenegro (1.25)
22.45: (4.80) Poland (4.00) Netherlands (1.75)
22.45: (2.10) Slovakia (3.25) N.Ireland (4.10)
Saturday
17.00: (15.0) Kazakhstan (7.70) Belgium (1.20)
19.00: (11.0) Cyprus (6.00) Austria (1.30)
20.00: (13.5) Georgia (7.00) Spain (1.23)
20.00: (55.0) Liechtenstein (16.0) Wales (1.02)
20.00: (1.08) Turkey (11.0) Bulgaria (30.0)
22.45: (2.45) B&H (3.40) Romania (3.05)
22.45: (1.03) Denmark (15.0) Belarus (50.0)
22.45: (2.15) Greece (3.45) Scotland (3.70)
22.45: (2.05) Slovenia (3.25) Kosovo* (4.20)
22.45: (1.60) Switzerland (4.10) Sweden (5.50)
Sunday
17.00: (1.80) Hungary (3.50) R.Ireland (4.70)
17.00: (1.08) Portugal (13.0) Armenia (20.0)
20.00: (7.75) Albania (4.50) England (1.42)
20.00: (20.0) Azerbaijan (13.0) France (1.08)
20.00: (1.25) Serbia (6.50) Latvia (14.0)
20.00: (1.67) Ukraine (3.60) Iceland (5.70)
22.45: (1.43) Israel (4.50) Moldova (7.50)
22.45: (1.85) Italy (3.60) Norway (4.30)
***odds are subject to change***
