A group of carpenters, electricians, teachers and pizza sellers are still charging towards the World Cup

This is one of the most unexpected stories in the history of World Cup qualifying.

The Faroe Islands are a volcanic archipelago consisting of 18 islands located between Iceland and Scotland. It is an overseas autonomous territory of Denmark with a population of only 55,000. Strictly speaking, the Faroe Islands team, like the Gibraltar team and the British four teams, cannot be called a national team. The Faroe Islands have only one group match left in this World Cup qualifying tournament, but they still hope to advance to the finals of the United States, Canada and Mexico World Cup next summer.

The Faroe Islands have never won more than two games in any World Cup qualifier before, but this time they have won four of the past five games, including a 2:1 home victory over the Czech Republic, ranked second in the group, in October, which shocked the world.

This means that this team, which ranks 127th among FIFA's 211 members and whose name means "Sheep Island", can suddenly look forward to entering the main matches of the US-Canada-Mexico World Cup.

If they can upset group leader Croatia on Friday, and Gibraltar, who is bottom of the group, can not lose to the Czech Republic on Monday, the Faroe Islands will finish second in the group and advance to the play-offs next March.

However, considering that Gibraltar has never gained even 1 point, and Croatia has 5 wins and 1 draw in 6 group matches, the probability of such a result is extremely low.

However, for the Faroe Islands' 36-year-old centre-back Odemar Farley, this is an achievement that his team has never achieved before.

"The idea is to ride the wave, hang on and see how far this wave takes us," he said.

"We are currently digesting this information, and we feel that with our recent form, we can go to Croatia and score three points."

Farley has played for Keith and Forfell Athletic in Scotland and Hankan in the Norwegian Premier League. His father and grandfather's names are both Odermar, and they have both played on behalf of this country with a population of less than 55,000.

While qualifying for the World Cup is exciting, Farley is sober about their chances.

"I think Gibraltar is unlikely to get points, so this game is actually a long shot, but we won't let this game affect our performance against Croatia."

"If Gibraltar ends up drawing with the Czech Republic, and we ourselves If we fail to win, we will be very disappointed - this is the worst result I can think of."

Carpenters, electricians, teachers and pizza sellers

The Faroe Islands had previously scored 12 points, which was their best result in all previous qualifiers.

With goals from Hanus Sørensen and Martin Agnarsson, they defeated the Czech team 2:1, narrowing the points gap with the Czech team to 1 point.

Both players are under 25 years old. Farley said they represented the new faces of the national team.

"I think they are strong players," Farley said. "They are explosive, agile, and a little bit young, if you can call it that. They basically don't care who the opponent is - to them, nothing matters."

"Sometimes you need guys like that, guys who are relentless when we attack and have no respect for the opponent."

"We've had people see us. Defense, but now there are suddenly some players in our team who can counterattack when attacking - this is one of the reasons why we were able to defeat Montenegro 4:0."

"When we launch a counterattack, I think other teams will realize, 'Okay, this is not just a team that only defends'."

Unlike Sørensen and Agnasson, who played professional football in Slovenia and Denmark, Farley has his own job outside of football.

He works in a furniture store in his hometown and has just won another Faroe Islands league title with Klaksvik.

The Faroe Islands coach Clark Stein is a former crime novelist, and the presence of Farley and other part-time players on the team fully demonstrates how disadvantaged they will be when they face a star-studded Croatia in Rijeka.

Farley said: "This is not much different from what you would imagine for a semi-professional team in England."

"There are always a few electricians, a few carpenters, and a teacher here. Among young players, those who work in kindergartens are also very popular because the working hours are short and it is convenient to participate in football. Training."

"And Fredriksberg, who scored the penalty against Montenegro. He is actually the CEO of a wholesale company, and one of them is pizza, so he is called the "Pizza Salesman."

Can the Faroe Islands do a miracle?

Farley attributed the team's good form to having a Faroese coach, the second local coach in the team's history.

In February of this year, Klakstein succeeded Swede Hakan Eriksson as the head coach of the Faroe Islands. This move marked the increasing external demands and expectations for the team. Eriksen coached the Faroe Islands for five years and was already the most successful coach in the team's history, but he was still dismissed because of unsatisfactory results.

"I think psychologically, when you start using our own language for team meetings, pep talks, analysis and so on, it gives people a sense that we are the Faroe Islands national team now." Farley said.

"Everything happens in the Faroe Islands, this is our national team and we will fight to the death for this team. It is a matter of patriotism and everything we do is the Faroe Islands way."

But what exactly is the "Faroe Islands way"?

Farley added: "From a historical perspective, I think our nation is very resilient. This is the cornerstone of our development.. "

"We have 55,000 people stranded on 18 islands somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. So the basic situation is that you have to figure out your own solution to everything, otherwise you will be dead. "

"So when we have resources and manpower, we must find a way to make it work, because there is no other choice. "

If the Faroe Islands really qualify for the World Cup, they will break the record held by Iceland and become the FIFA member with the smallest population to advance to the World Cup finals.