A country the size of Biel celebrates a historic evening of handball. The Faroe Islands win a European Championship match for the first time. This has consequences for kindergartens and the parliament in their own country.
18.01.2026, 20:25
18.01.2026, 20:52
SDA
An island group in the North Atlantic goes crazy and celebrates a historic evening of handball: thanks to the extended family around Elias A Skipagotu from Bundesliga club THW Kiel, the Faroe Islands have won a European Championship match for the first time in their association's history. In front of around 6500 supporters, who made up around twelve percent of the total population, the handball dwarf won its second preliminary round match against Montenegro 37:24 and now has a good chance of reaching the main round after the draw against Switzerland at the start of the European Championship.
The A Skipagotu and Mittun families contributed 18 goals. Elias A Skipagotu from THW Kiel scored eight goals, his brother Roi did not score this time. Their cousin Oli Mittun was the top scorer with ten goals, while his brother Pauli was unsuccessful. Hakun West Av Teigum from German champions Füchse Berlin also got on the scoresheet with nine goals.
A country as big as Biel
The fans, almost all in white and wearing hats in their national colors, turned the arena into a madhouse. Every goal was celebrated like a European Championship victory, refereeing decisions were drowned out by the loud chanting. As the association announced on Instagram, even the parliament and some kindergartens are currently closed because many members and educators are also in Oslo.
The Faroe Islands consist of a total of 18 islands in the North Atlantic and have around 55,000 inhabitants. That's about as many as Biel, the tenth largest city in Switzerland.
Fans arrive in special planes and by ferry
The fans arrived in charter planes and by ferry. The national airline Atlantic Airways deployed 18 special aircraft. A further 1050 fans took the ferry, as the Faroese handball association told the dpa news agency.
Thousands of Faroese fans had already celebrated a huge handball party in Berlin at the European Championship in Germany two years ago.
