Seventh-tier players, a new app and togetherness: inside New Caledonia’s unlikely World Cup tilt

Despite being 150th in the world rankings, the French overseas territory can dream of a truly astounding achievement

Roussillon is a small town nestled in the Rhône valley, about 40 minutes south of Lyon by car, and a reminder that the most extraordinary stories can hide in the most ordinary of places. One player says “the town doesn’t ‘live’ for [its] club”, but as you head through the town centre and towards Salaise Rhodia’s stadium, you begin to doubt whether the town lives at all; welcome to a Sunday in rural France.

Around 30 minutes before the start of the game, the single stand begins to fill. Everyone seems to know each other in some way. Entry is free for what is a top of the table encounter in the Régional 2, the seventh tier of French football, against Craponne AS.