There is no unified British team in the World Cup, but as four quasi-national political entities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers, Wales was placed in Group B after eliminating Ukraine. The same team is England.
In addition to the United Kingdom, China, France, the United States, the Netherlands and Denmark also have special regions to compete in the World Series and the Intercontinental Competition. Except for China and the United States, the rest are European countries. The most special team in these European countries is Denmark. Because only Denmark and its overseas territories have competed in the World Cup and the European Championship and the European League.
In addition to the four political entities (excluding the controversial Gibraltar), the remaining six members bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Anguilla, the Turks and Caicos Islands all compete in the Central And Caribbean Qualifiers, with the United Kingdom as a member of The United Kingdom in Europe and Central And North America.
Two overseas territories of the Netherlands, Aruba and Curaçao, compete in the North American and Caribbean world cups. Curaçao is known for being ridiculed for once ranking higher than China at FIFA.
In France's overseas territories, Tahiti and New Caledonia, two members who can compete in the World Preliminary Round, are actually members of Oceania.
In the 2022 FIFA World Cup In Qatar European Qualifiers, Denmark was once in the same group as the Faroe Islands. Denmark completed a home-and-away double against the Faroe Islands.
Faroe Islands – Denmark's overseas territory
Denmark is under the impression of the world as an indisputable "fairy tale kingdom". From various sources, we found that the land area of Denmark is only 40,000 square kilometers, equivalent to half of the mainland Chongqing Municipality. Of the five Nordic countries, Denmark is the smallest by area.
In fact, when calculating the size of the country, Denmark did not include two overseas territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
The Faroe Islands are located in the North Atlantic, between the British Isles and Norway, with a land area of 1399 square kilometers, equivalent to the land area of the Zhoushan Islands on the mainland. The Faroe Islands consist of 18 islands, 17 of which are inhabited and 1 is uninhabited. The terrain of the archipelago is mostly rugged and low mountains, in addition, due to the high latitude, perennial influence of glacial erosion, the archipelago has many glacial erosion landforms, so the topography of the archipelago is multi-fjord and low mountainous. The highest point is located in the Sletara Mountains of the East Island, at 882 meters above sea level.
The entire population of the island is less than 50,000. The local language is mainly Faroese, the lingua franca Danish. In addition to this, the region has its own independent currency, the Faroque, which is equivalent to the Danish krone.
Although the Faroe Islands are part of Denmark today, the first people to land here were the Celtic people from the island of Ireland. In the 6th century AD, during the Wei and Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties, which roughly corresponded to the mainland, the Celts first landed here. Here lives and breeds, the symbol ram of the Faroe Islands, from the Celtic language - sheep island.
Because the Faroe Islands are located at a key node in the North Atlantic, the Celts will not occupy them for too long. In the 9th century, vikings from northern Europe drove out the Celts and occupied the Faroe Islands. Since then, the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands have changed from Celtic to Viking
During the 10th century AD, the Vikings, under the influence of Christianity, established three independent Viking states – Denmark, Sweden and Norway. In 1035, during the Northern Song Dynasty, Norway declared its occupation of the Faroe Islands, and the owners of the Faroe Islands became the Kingdom of Norway.
By the 13th century, the Hanseatic League was born in Germany, posing a serious threat to Nordic hegemony. To counter the Hanseatic League, Denmark joined forces with Sweden and Norway to form the Kalmar League. The strongest Denmark is the ally of them. Under the auspices of Denmark, the Kalmar League defeated the loose Hanseatic League in naval battles and became the hegemon of trade in the Baltic and North Seas.
In the face of external troubles, the three countries of the Kalmar Alliance can remain in agreement. But when the external troubles were lifted, the contradictions between Sweden and Denmark within the alliance became more and more acute.
In 1523, Denmark launched a massacre against Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. The Massacre of Stockholm was the last straw that overwhelmed the League. Sweden announced its withdrawal from the League, ending the history of the Kalmar League, leaving only the alliance of Denmark and Norway.
▲ Stockholm (the capital of Sweden) massacre, the trigger for the disintegration of the Kalmar League
In 1534, Denmark announced the abolition of Norway's independence status, reducing Norway to a province. Norway lost control of Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, and sovereignty over Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands was transferred from Norway to Denmark.
Norway and the Faroe Islands broke up in 1814. At that time, Europe was mired in the Napoleonic Wars. Sweden sided with the Coalition, while Denmark sided with France. Denmark, which was on the wrong side, was severely punished. In the Treaty of Kiel in 1814, Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden. At this point, Denmark withdrew from the ranks of great powers. But Greenland and the Faroe Islands remained in Denmark.
In 1905, Norway became independent from Sweden. Norway and Denmark had resorted to international tribunals over the ownership of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. This time, Norway did not succeed. Sovereignty over the Faroe Islands and Greenland officially belongs to Denmark.
After World War II, Denmark's control over overseas territories became weaker and weaker. Among them, Iceland became independent from Denmark. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have acquired a high degree of autonomy. With a high degree of autonomy, Greenland and the Faroe Islands are no longer counted in Denmark's land area.
Faroe Islands football, there has been a miracle of double-matching European champions
Denmark has two overseas territories, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Greenland, Denmark's largest overseas territory, is neither a fifa member nor a member of the Central American and Caribbean Football Federation, so they cannot form a national team to participate in the World Series and Continental Competitions. Star Glenshire, born in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, has chosen to represent Denmark in world competitions.
Unlike Greenland, the Faroe Islands have their own independent FOOTBALL Association. The Faroe Islands Football Association was established in 1930, and in 1942, the Faroe Islands established a league system independent of Denmark. The faroe islands' leagues are constrained by the disadvantages of small size, small population and geographical dispersion, far behind the Danish league. To this day, it is still a semi-professional league.
The Faroe Islands Football Association was accepted by FIFA in 1988 and by UEFA in 1990. From now on, the Faroe Islands can compete in UEFA and FIFA-owned competitions – the World Cup, the European Cup and the newly established UEFA Nations League.
Compared to Denmark, the Faroe Islands' record pales in comparison. Denmark defeated South American powerhouses 6-1 at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and won two-time World Cups with Uruguay. At the 1992 European Championship, Denmark, which substituted Yugoslavia, won the Delaunay Cup on the soil of sworn enemies Sweden, creating a Danish fairy tale.
At Euro 2020, Denmark once again performed a miracle and reached the final four. 2022 Qatar World Cup, Denmark and Faroe Islands in the same group. Denmark played strongly in the group stage. Especially against the Faroe Islands, Denmark completed a home-and-away double and directly advanced to the World Cup. The Faroe Islands lost hope of qualifying early.
The performance of both sides in the 2022 Qatar World Cup qualifiers is precisely the embodiment of the gap in strength. Because not to mention Denmark's European Cup title honor, that is, to qualify for the main competition, for the Faroe Islands is a luxury.
Since they joined UEFA and the FIFA family, the Faroe Islands have repeatedly played the role of a point-giver in the World Cup European Qualifiers and European Championship Qualifiers. Not only have they repeatedly lost big scores against European giants such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, etc., but they have also lost big scores like 0-7 even against Romania, the former Yugoslavia and Norway.
Perhaps, for Faroe Islands fans, the record of ending a winless end is enough to make them remember. For example, the 1998 World Preliminary Tournament defeat over Malta; In the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, they beat Lithuania 2-1; He defeated Estonia in the 2012 Euro 2012 qualifiers.
Perhaps their most memorable match was the Euro 2016 qualifiers in France. At that time, they were in the same group as European Champions Greece, Romania, Hungary, Northern Ireland and Finland.
Although they had lost in the previous three rounds against Finland, Northern Ireland and Hungary, the Faroe Islands surprised the world in the fourth round of away matches against Greece.
At the time, Greece, a former European Champion and one of the Round of 16 in the World Cup, was ranked 18th, while the Faroe Islands were ranked 187th. While people thought Greece was sure to score three points, the Faroe Islands won 1-0 away from home, giving the opponent a heavy blow.
The head coach of Greece at that time was Ranieri, who later led Leicester City to create miracles. After the game, the British "Guardian" called this match the most disparity counterattack.
Seven months later, the Faroe Islands cut Greece down 2-1 again, achieving a double-save against their opponents.
Although the Faroe Islands did not make it to Euro 2016 in France, the 6-point record of being able to score greece was enough to make fans across the island proud.
In the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, the Faroe Islands were in the same group as Malta, Latvia and Andorra in the D-League, and were promoted to C with a record of 3 wins and 3 draws. In the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, the Faroe Islands are in the same group as Turkey, Luxembourg and Lithuania. The first two matches faced Turkey and Luxembourg, and the Faroe Islands lost unsurprisingly.
At present, the Faroe Islands are in second-to-last position with Lithuania with a goal difference advantage. In the third battle against Lithuania, whether they can realize their dream of scoring 3 points, we will wait and see.