UEFA Euro 2024 Team Previews: Denmark
UEFA Euro 2024 is just weeks away from kicking off in Germany. Over the next 17 days, we will be previewing each team that will be taking part in Europe’s biggest football tournament. Check out all of the team previews that have been done so far. Up next is Denmark.
Denmark has been one of the better teams in Europe over the last few years. They will now be aiming to take care of business at Euro 2024. “De Rød-Hvide” (The Red and Whites) had a strong qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 by finishing top of their group with seven wins, a draw, and two losses. Over the last year, Denmark has been on fire. They have lost one of their last 10 matches and that came on the final day of qualifying when they had already secured qualification. Their current form saw them get as high as 18th in the FIFA rankings before dropping to 21st in the latest edition.
Euro Appearances
Euro 2024 will be the 10th appearance of Denmark on Europe’s biggest stage. Their debut came back in 1964 in the second edition of Euros. However, it took them 20 more years to make their second appearance and since then “De Rød-Hvide” has been a regular competitor only missing out on Euro 2008 and Euro 2016.
Best Finish at the Euros
Denmark has made the semifinals in four of their previous nine appearances at the Euros. Only one did they manage to move on to the final and that came in Sweden at Euro 1992. This was the peak of Danish football as they took home the title on a historic day against Germany. John Jensen opened the scoring 18 minutes in before Kim Vilfort sealed the deal with a goal 12 minutes from the end to give “De Rød-Hvide” a 2-0 win.
Key players
The Danish national team has an array of talent and experience at every position with players all over Europe’s top leagues. Two of Denmark’s top three capped players are once again leading the way. Center-back Simon Kjær leads the nation with 131 caps while Christian Eriksen sits in third with 128. The midfielder Eriksen will pass iconic goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel with two more appearances for “De Rød-Hvide” which could happen in the warm-up matches ahead of Euro 2024. Eriksen was the talk of the group stage at Euro 2020 when he collapsed on the field in Denmark’s opening match against Finland. Elsewhere, Kasper Schmeichel has made 100 appearances for his national side as a goalkeeper.
While experience is plentiful, a 21-year-old led the team in scoring during Euro 2024 qualifying. Manchester United’s Rasmus Højlund scored seven goals for Denmark during qualifying. He was the only player to score more than two goals which three players were tied with. Those include Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Wolfsburg defender Joakim Mæhle. Denmark will also have their leading goalscorer from Euro 2020, Kasper Dolberg, back for another run. The Anderlecht forward scored three times on the way to the semifinals in the last Euros.
Manager
Kasper Hjulmand became the Danish manager in 2020. He was supposed to take over following Euro 2020 but after the COVID pandemic pushed it back a year he led Denmark to the semifinals of Euro 2020 in his first tournament in charge. He has since guided them to qualification for the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024. In his time as the manager of “De Rød-Hvide,” Hjulmand has won 31 matches out of a possible 49. He has the highest winning percentage of any manager to have led Denmark in 20 or more matches.
Biggest Group Game – vs England on June 20
There is some recent history between Denmark and England as they met in the semifinals of Euro 2020. In that match, it was England who came out victorious. Now Denmark has a chance to get redemption against one of the favorites to win Euro 2024. There is no easy path in the knockout stage but winning the group is a good start and that is what this match could mean for Denmark.
Prediction
Just like at Euro 2020 Denmark has a strong team that is capable of making a deep run. With the talent in every position, there is no reason that they will not make it out of the group stage. A second-place finish in Group C seems far more likely than winning the group. Unfortunately for “De Rød-Hvide” this could very well mean a round of 16 meeting with Germany. As mentioned in the Germany preview, I do not see the hosts losing at this stage. So sorry Denmark, your road to a second title will end here.
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