World Cup preview: Denmark
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Denmark will make their return to the biggest stage in football this summer when they travel to Russia for the 2018 World Cup, having missed the tournament in Brazil four years ago.
On only four previous occasions have the Danes made it to the World Cup, although they have at least qualified through the group stages in three of those tournaments.
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Hopes will be high that they can once again grace the knockout stages this summer as they go into the tournament as the 12th-highest ranked team in the world.
Here, Sports Mole assesses Denmark’s chances in Russia.
GROUP
The draw has been relatively kind to Denmark, with second place behind favourites France seemingly up for grabs in Group C.
The Danes will hope to have qualification wrapped up before they take on Les Bleus in their final match of the group, although on the flip side negative results against Peru and Australia in their opening two games could leave them needing a result against the much-fancied French.
The winners of the group are also likely to avoid Lionel Messi‘s Argentina in the last 16 – should results go as expected – so Denmark may even have one eye on finishing top if they go into that final match in a strong position.
DENMARK FIXTURES
June 16: Peru vs. Denmark (5pm, Mordovia Arena, Saransk)
June 21: Denmark vs. Australia (1pm, Cosmos Arena, Samara)
June 26: Denmark vs. France (3pm, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow)
HOW THEY QUALIFIED
Denmark’s qualifying campaign got off to a shaky start as they only edged a 1-0 win over Armenia in their opening match before suffering back-to-back defeats at the hands of Poland and Montenegro.
However, that October 2016 home loss to Montenegro proved to be the last one of their campaign as they won five and drew two of their seven remaining group games – including an impressive 4-0 win over Poland.
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Despite that improvement, Denmark could still only finish second behind Poland as they went into the playoffs, where they were drawn against the Republic of Ireland.
A goalless draw in Copenhagen appeared to have handed Ireland the slight advantage going into the second leg, but Christian Eriksen scored a hat-trick in Dublin as Denmark came from behind to run out 5-1 winners and book their place at the World Cup in style.
RECENT FORM
Denmark’s results so far this calendar year have hinted that they may be a difficult team to break down in Russia, with Hareide’s side yet to concede a goal in a FIFA-approved match since booking their place at the World Cup.
A 1-0 win over Panama in March was followed by a goalless draw with Chile, both of which are results that will give them confidence ahead of their opening World Cup game against Peru.
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Another goalless draw against Sweden on June 2 may have begun to raise concerns about Denmark’s goalscoring ability, but they were somewhat alleviated with a 2-0 win over Mexico in their most recent outing.
It is now 16 matches and 20 months since Denmark last conceded more than one goal in a game, so they will hope to grind out a few positive results in Russia.
SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester), Frederik Ronnow (Brondby), Jonas Lossl (Huddersfield).
Defenders: Simon Kjaer (Sevilla), Mathias Jorgensen (Huddersfield), Andreas Christensen (Chelsea), Henrik Dalsgaard (Brentford), Jannik Vestergaard (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jens Stryger Larsen (Udinese), Jonas Knudsen (Ipswich).
Midfielders: Christian Eriksen (Tottenham), Lasse Schone (Ajax), Michael Krohn-Dehli (Deportivo La Coruna), Thomas Delaney (Werder Bremen), William Kvist (FC Copenhagen), Lukas Lerager (Bordeaux).
Forwards: Andreas Cornelius (Atalanta), Kasper Dolberg (Ajax), Martin Braithwaite (Middlesbrough), Nicolai Jorgensen (Feyenoord), Pione Sisto (Celta Vigo), Viktor Fischer (FC Copenhagen), Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig).
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