JAKUP EMIL HANSEN, a Faroese political science masters student, has helped his home country overtake Wales in the FIFA world rankings, after he identified a flaw in the rankings system.
Brian Kerr’s side recently secured an impressive 2-0 victory over Estonia – their first in the European Championship qualifiers since they beat San Marino in 1995.
The student discovered that this victory was enough to move them 0.07 points ahead of Wales and FIFA subsequently altered the rankings accordingly, after the Faroese FA sent them a letter pointing out the error.
The team, who are ranked 114th, are slowly improving under Kerr’s regime.
They lost out only after two last-minute goals against Estonia in August of last year, before exacting their revenge, and they have also secured a credible 1-1 draw with Northern Ireland during qualifying.