PREVIEW: Can Denmark take Europe by storm again at EURO2024?

After a disappointing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Denmark are back on the European Championship trail and will soon be heading south and across the border into Germany.

The Danes kick off their latest European adventure in Group C, alongside Serbia, Slovenia and the pre-tournament favourites, England. They kick off their EURO2024 campaign in Stuttgart against Slovenia at 17:00 BST on Sunday, 16^th June.

Kasper Hjulmand has overseen the national side since 2019, guiding them to third place at EURO2020 after a controversial penalty awarded against them saw the Danes lose 2-1 to England in the semifinal.

Hjulmand, who grew up in a town of only 3,000 inhabitants in the lesser-known Djursland peninsular of Denmark, had an eleven-year playing career spread across clubs in his native Denmark, as well as a college stint in the USA that was cut short by persistent injuries. 

Denmark’s highest EUROs finish since their memorable 1992 win occurred under his stewardship, with many hopeful that he can rekindle memories of that magical run again this time around. Back in the days when VAR was merely just a random amalgamation of letters that had no real meaning, you only got two points for a win, could still do a ‘back-pass’ and there were only eight teams in the whole tournament, Denmark reigned supreme.

They only qualified for the 1992 tournament in extenuating circumstances, following the breakup of Yugoslavia – and fuelled by an effective second wind, Richard Møller Nielsen’s Denmark produced one of the tournament’s fairytale stories despite not actually qualifying. 

Nielsen was being heavily criticised at the time in the Danish press and by supporters for dropping Jan Molby and Jan Heintze for ‘disciplinary’ reasons, and the friction resulted in brothers Brian and Michael Laudrup quitting the national team setup.

But a team in disarray and heavily reliant on legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel produced some stunning performances under Nielsen’s defensive style, beating the Netherlands in the semifinal on penalties, before cruising past Germany 2-0 in the final.

Turning attention back to the present, Denmark have partaken in two pre-tournament friendlies in June, providing Hjulmand with opportunities to assess the squad and confirm the optimal tactics before the big kick-off in Germany. 

The first of those outings was a clash with Sweden, in which a 2-1 victory saw Hjulmand’s side prevail over their Scandinavian rivals. Spurs’ Pierre Emile Højbjerg opened the scoring, powering home Christian Eriksen’s corner before Alexander Isak levelled for the Swedes inside the first nine minutes. Eriksen then completed his fairytale return to international football, scoring a stunning curled effort to win the game on the very ground where he suffered his tragic cardiac arrest three years ago.

The Danes’ final pre-EURO2024 contest saw them take on Norway, with Hjulmand’s men picking up another win to keep momentum at a high ahead of the tournament proper. Højbjerg scored for the second game in a row, with Leicester’s Jannik Vestergaard doubling their lead before half-time. Erling Haaland inevitably scored for Norway with 20 minutes to go, but Yussuf Poulsen squashed any nerves when he scored late on to put the icing on the Danish pastry as they head into the EUROs with two wins from their two warm-up games. 

Group C is one Denmark should be able to get out of, albeit in second place behind the pre-tournament favourites: England. Their first game, against Slovenia, takes place in Stuttgart on June 16^th – and having met twice during qualifying, these two sides know each other very well. The most recent of the two affairs was a 2-1 win for Denmark, with goals from Wolfsburg’s Joakim Mæhle and Anderlecht’s Thomas Delaney enough to seal three big points for Hjulmand’s side. 

Next is the showpiece clash in Group C that comes four days after their opener. Denmark and England will meet at tea-time in Frankfurt on June 20^th, with the contest immediately reviving memories of the EURO2020 semifinal. A Harry Kane goal in extra time consigned Denmark to a 2-1 defeat on that occasion, with the result still enough to earn their best European Championship finish since their memorable 1992 campaign.

The third and final group stage outing for the Danes will take the form of a clash with Serbia in Munich. Those two sides last met in March 2022, with Joakim Mæhle, Jesper Lundstram and Christian Eriksen all finding the back of the net to give the rød-hvide a three-goal victory.

If Denmark were to progress out of Group C by finishing second, they’d face the winner of Group A – likely to be the tournament hosts, Germany. If they were to win the group, they would be pitted against the best third-placed team from Groups D, E or F on June 30^th.

So, who will be the key men to oversee their progression?

Rasmus Højlund may have endured a tough start to life in England, but the Danish forward has certainly blossomed in the latter part of the club campaign and with his form in qualifying carrying the rød-hvide into EURO2024, he could be shouldering the responsibility throughout the tournament proper too. 

His seven goals in thirteen Denmark matches have all come in the qualifying phase, including marking his first national team start with a memorable hat trick against Finland right at the beginning of the campaign. 

He also became the first Danish player in history to win a Premier League Player of the Month award in February – and after a difficult start to life at the world’s biggest club, Højlund managed to end his first term with 43 appearances, 16 goals and one FA Cup winner’s medal.

And let’s make this clear – this isn’t a Manchester United love-in, but Christian Eriksen has the chance to complete the ultimate fairytale this summer and deserves plenty of attention. 

His tragic cardiac arrest during Denmark’s opener against Finland at EURO2020 shocked the world, but having successfully recovered, the midfielder returned to the national team setup in March 2022 and scored two minutes into his return.

All of Denmark’s games, and every match of EURO2024, will be covered in detail here on FromTheSpot.