Career
He is also one of the Faroe Islands" best chess players. He played most of his career at SÍF Sandavágur and after they merged with Bachelor of Medicine Miðvágur for then newly formed FS Vágar. Nielsen played in an August 1988 friendly match against Iceland, the country"s first Fédération internationale de football association-recognized match.
He scored the very first Faroese goal after Fédération internationale de football association recognition, in a game, which also turned out to be the first ever official victory for the Faroe Islands, winning 1-0 in a friendly over Canada in April 1989.
Torkil claimed his place in world football history for his goal in the 1992 European championship qualifying shock 1-0 defeat of Austria in September 1990, which also was the Faroe Islands" first competitive match. His final match was a June 1993 World Cup qualifying match against Czechoslovakia.
He earned 18 caps, scoring 2 goals. Scores and results list Faroe Islands" goal tally first.
During and after his football career, Torkil Nielsen played chess with the club Sandavágs talvfelag.