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It is one of the more unlikely World Cup qualifying stories.

The Faroe Islands, an 18-island volcanic archipelago between Iceland and Scotland, still harbour dreams of making next summer’s finals with just one group match left.

The Faroes had never won more than two games in any qualification campaign before, but have now won four of their past five games, including a notable 2-1 home success against second-placed Czech Republic in October.

That means the side, whose name means ‘sheep islands’ and are ranked 127th out of Fifa’s 211 nations, are suddenly face to face with the unexpected concept of permutations.

If they can upset Group L leaders Croatia on Friday, and bottom side Gibraltar avoid defeat in the Czech Republic in Monday’s encounter, the Faroese will finish second in the group and qualify for the play-offs in March.

That is a highly unlikely combination of results, though, considering Gibraltar have never registered a qualification point and Croatia have won five of their six group games.

However for the Faroes’ 36-year-old central defender Odmar Faero, it’s a step beyond anything his nation has achieved before.

“The idea is just to keep riding the wave and to hold on and just see how far it carries us,” he said.

“We’re soaking this in at the moment and the feeling is that with the results recently, we believe we can go to Croatia and get three points.”

Faero, who had spells in Scotland with Keith and Forfar Athletic, is the only Faroese player to have made 50 appearances in European club competitions. His father and grandfather, both called Odmar, also represented the nation that has a population of just under 55,000.

But as exciting as their flirtation with World Cup qualification is, Faero is realistic about their chances.

“I just don’t feel like Gibraltar are going to get any points so it’s a little bit of a lost cause, but we won’t let that affect our performance against Croatia.

The Faroe Islands’ 12 points is their best-ever haul in a qualifying competition.

They moved a point behind the Czechs after their 2-1 win, through goals from Hanus Sorensen and Martin Agnarsson.

Both players are younger than 25 and, according to Faero, represent a new face for the national team.

“I’d say they’re power players,” added the KI centre-back. “They have explosiveness, agility, young naiveness, if you can call it that. They basically don’t care who they’re running up against – it’s just water off a duck’s back.

“That’s sometimes what you need. Someone who shows no remorse, no respect when we’re attacking.

“We’ve seen that defending, but now suddenly we’ve got a few profiles on the team who can bite back when we attack – and that’s one of the reasons why we could beat Montenegro 4-0.

“So when we have counter-attacks, I think teams are waking up and thinking ‘OK, this is not just a defending team’.”

Unlike Sorensen and Agnarsson who play professionally in Slovenia and Denmark, Faero combines football with another job.

He works for a furniture store in his native country, where he has just won the league again with KI.

Head coach Eyoun Klakstein used to be a crime writer, while Faero and the team’s other part-time players illustrate just how much of an underdog the Faroe Islands will be when they take on Croatia’s stars, including Luka Modric and Josko Gvardiol, in Rijeka.

“It’s not so much different from what you would imagine if it was a semi-pro team in England,” he said.

“There’s always a few electricians, a few joiners. There’s a teacher, and then something that’s quite popular among young players here is to work in kindergarten because it’s reduced hours and works well with football training.

Faero attributes the team’s good form to having a Faroese coach, only the second ever.

Klakstein replaced Swede Hakan Ericson in February – a move that signalled the rising demands and expectations for the side. Ericson was the national team’s most successful coach during a five-year tenure, but disappointing results led to his dismissal.

“I think psychologically, when you start having the team meetings and the pep talks and the analysis and all these things in our own language, it just gives it a feel that now we are the Faroese national team,” said Færo.

“Everything is happening in Faroese and this is our national team, and we’re going to die and bleed for this team. It’s a matter of patriotism and everything we do is the Faroese way.”

But what is “the Faroese way”?

He added: “I would say we are resilient as a people, historically speaking. It’s a cornerstone that we build on.

“We’re 55,000 people stuck on 18 islands somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. So basically it’s like, listen, either you figure it out yourselves, or you die.

“So we have our resources, we have our people, and we just find our way to make it work because there is no other option.”

Not many League One defenders can say they have gone up against one of the best strikers in world football, but James Carragher can – and he has the shirt to prove it.

Wigan Athletic’s Carragher, son of former Liverpool and England centre-back Jamie, qualifies to play for Malta through his great-grandfather and made his international debut for them earlier this year.

He won his second cap away against Poland, when Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski featured as a second-half substitute with the hosts winning 2-0.

“I was disappointed that he wasn’t playing [from the start] and I wanted him to play, I was a bit gutted,” Carragher told BBC Radio Manchester in March.

“Then when I saw he was coming on at least I can say I’ve played against him and I got his shirt after the game.

“I’ve got my own shirt from the first game, then his from the second one and hopefully it’s something I will have for a long time.”

Carragher, who will be 23 on Tuesday, may have a second chance to take on Lewandowski – who has scored 87 international goals in 161 caps and is a former Champions League winner with Bayern Munich – again on Monday when Malta host Poland in a World Cup qualifier.

Jamie Carragher was a one-club man and made 737 appearances for Liverpool, winning the Champions League, Uefa Cup, two FA Cups and three League Cup titles in a glittering career which also included 38 England caps.

James initially followed in his father’s footsteps and was on Liverpool’s books from the age of eight before moving to Wigan’s academy six years later, with his professional debut for the Latics coming at 18.

After loan spells at Oldham Athletic and in Scotland with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Carragher junior’s breakthrough season at Wigan came in 2024-25 – with a chance of international recognition then coming out of the blue.

“It’s something I didn’t expect a few months ago,” said Carragher after his international debut. “They [the Malta Football Association] got in touch with my dad and my agent to see if I was properly eligible and once that got cleared up it was a no-brainer for me to go and play.

“It’s through my great-grandad, my dad’s grandad, and he is from there, was born there, lived there and then moved over to Liverpool.

“My nan and dad had been there before but it was the first time I had been there, so the first time I went I ended up playing for them, so it was a bit of a mad experience.”

Carragher, just like his father, is a tall and strong centre-half who can also operate at full-back, and also featured in Malta’s goalless qualifier against Lithuania in June.

However, his last international experience was a tough one as Malta were swept aside 8-0 by a rampant Netherlands outfit, with Premier League players Virgil van Dijk, Xavi Simons, Donyell Malen and Micky van de Ven among the Dutch scorers.

A thigh injury in August kept Carragher out of action for more than two months, but he has played in each of Wigan’s past three games to earn an international recall for Malta’s qualifiers against Finland and Poland.

In an interview with the Wigan Post, Carragher spoke of the “100% pride” he felt representing Malta and added: “I was buzzing with the games I’ve played. Some have gone well and some haven’t, but it’s just an unbelievable experience.

While James embarks on his own football journey, proud father Jamie is there cheering him on at every step, along with other family members.

Jamie Carragher, who now works as a football pundit for Sky Sports and US broadcaster CBS Sports, spoke of the pride and tension he and his family felt when watching James mark his international debut.

“We had a proper trip, it was the Carraghers on tour,” said Jamie on The Overlap podcast. “I was not nervous, but I could see my dad [James’ grandfather] was a bit nervous as it was a big game.

“Lewandowski came on and [James] was up against him for the last 20 minutes.”

Speaking on CBS Sports in April, Jamie Carragher added: “When your son is playing, you are concentrating, there’s no laughing or joking, you’re laser focused and keeping an eye on everything.

“I would give him seven out of 10 for the first game against Finland, he did really well, and eight out of 10 for his performance against Poland, considering the opponents in a big stadium – it was a brilliant trip.”

Warning: This article contains details some readers may find distressing.

At the centre of Conor Benn’s heavily tattooed torso is a large cross and at the bottom of his stomach he has the words ‘Fear God’ inked on his skin.

Since childhood, Benn has been a devoted Christian but his commitment to the faith has endured some serious tests.

Benn moved to Mallorca, Spain with his parents and siblings as a young child, spending 12 years there.

From the outside his life had all the trappings of luxury but the reality was much different.

“I lived in a beautiful home – a beautiful mansion – and went to private school,” Benn told BBC Sport.

“It was very heavily Christian, very religious. School was very extreme and church was very extreme.”

“Christmas was blasphemy so we couldn’t celebrate it,” he added. “Everything was just a lot.”

Benn, 29, attended a fundamentalist Christian school, and was told the “world was coming to an end”.

His parents had fully signed up to the evangelical life and the experience left Benn with scars that cut far deeper than those he has sustained inside the boxing ring.

Around the age of 12, the school believed Benn was “demon-possessed”.

“It was very traumatic,” Benn said.

“You were waking up in the morning and not knowing whether the anti-Christ was here.

“As a kid you’re easily influenced by people in these positions or power.

“Looking back – because I don’t often reflect on it – you think it’s pretty evil.”

Benn’s father, Nigel, is a former two-weight world champion and moved his family away from England for a fresh start.

Nigel was dealing with personal issues after leaving boxing. These included sex addiction and a suicide attempt, and he thought the church would guide him in the right direction.

“At that time, my dad was vulnerable with everything going on in his life,” Benn said.

“My dad had gone through things in life that I couldn’t understand. I was too young. He had moved out [of the family home] and lived with the pastors for a year.”

With the school’s influence over his parents, Benn felt isolated and like he had no one to turn to.

“My parents, I can’t say necessarily believed the school, but you’ve got to remember you’ve got pastors in a position of power that make you feel like maybe there is something wrong,” Benn added.

“They had me fooled because I thought there was something wrong with me.”

Benn was unable to break free from dark thoughts even when he was back at the family home.

“I was having nightmares, this recurring nightmare, and would wake up petrified,” Benn said.

That unorthodox upbringing saw Benn progress into adulthood feeling “troubled and angry”.

Aged 18, Benn and his family moved to Australia and it was only then he began to realise the full impact.

“You are trying to find your identity and who you are as well as being told you are maybe possessed,” Benn said.

He held resentment towards his dad but they came together and started to rebuild their relationship after Benn got arrested.

“At 18 I got in trouble in Australia,” Benn said.

“I thought ‘oh, I need to go home and tell my dad what happened’.

“He gave me a hug and said ‘we’ll get through this together’ and I realised he loved me.”

Benn was 21 when he married his wife Victoria and it was about a year later realisation came that he needed help to process his trauma.

He now has two children of his own and remains a Christian.

“I’m heavy in my faith and pray every single day so I’m not letting them take away from what I believe,” Benn said.

“I want to find a church that actually worships God and has the base and fundamentals of a Christian.”

On Saturday, Benn will be accompanied by his father, who faced Chris Eubank Sr in two iconic and ill-tempered fights in the 1990s, when he takes on Eubank Jr.

“How did we mend our relationship? Just being honest with each other, sitting down together, a lot of tears together – we’ve cried hand-in-hand and cuddled,” Benn said.

“We’ve broken down and been vulnerable with each other. If I could only tell you how many times we’ve cried on each other’s shoulders.

“It took some time and a lot of therapy for me to forgive.

When Benn lost on points against Eubank in April, it was a fight that had been two-and-a-half years in the making.

The pair were scheduled to meet in October 2022 but the bout was cancelled after Benn failed a voluntary drugs test, which led to a two-year battle with anti-doping authorities, before his suspension was lifted in November.

Benn has always denied intentionally doping and was supported by his father throughout.

“I couldn’t have done it without my dad. We were both sinking together really – we were struggling together,” Benn said.

“The amount of times I came home sobbing, and I mean like a little child, like my four-year-old son would to me.

“I would tell my dad that I didn’t know if I could make it through and he was there for me.”

Benn was villainised by sections of the British public for what they believed to be doping and was jeered when walking to the ring when he faced Eubank.

After losing that bout, Benn received a round of applause as he entered the media room for the post-fight news conference.

It also appears that he is beginning to get the public back on side following that gutsy performance as he hopes to leave that dark chapter behind.

“I fight for [the public] and I want to entertain them – that’s a heavy priority for me,” Benn said.

“Every time I get in the ring, I give everything I have, every ounce of blood and pour my heart out.

“It took me years and years to understand that I’ll never be enough for [the public]. Why? I’m doing my best.

“I’m a kid doing his hardest to be my dad because he’s my idol and hero.”