Few teams strode through FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifying with the ease and confidence of Denmark. When they became just the second team, besides the hosts, to seal a place at this year’s global finals, Kasper Hjulmand’s impressive side had yet to drop a point – or even concede a goal.
Given this remarkable form and their impressive campaign at last year’s UEFA EURO, when they recovered from the trauma surrounding Christian Eriksen’s opening-match cardiac arrest to reach the last four, it’s perhaps no surprise that they are being tipped as World Cup dark horses.
More unusual is that the Danes themselves, normally cautious and reserved, are embracing this tag – and talking up their hopes. Asked about the dark horses’ tag, Hjulmand told FIFA: “The only thing better would be if they say we are one of the favourites.
“We don’t think we’re better than others, but we know that we’re a good team and that we can compete with anyone. And if there’s pressure that comes from being thought of as contenders, we’re ok with that.”
The bonds forged in the wake of Eriksen’s collapse, and subsequent recovery, have merely strengthened what was already a formidable and well-balanced side. And with Denmark possessing more strength in depth than at any time in their recent history, hopes are high. As midfielder Pierre-Emile Hjobjerg told FIFA+: “We’re not Brazil, Germany or France, but we have something the others don’t have.”
Here, we highlight five players who will be crucial to the Danes’ hopes of realising their dreams in Qatar.
Christian Eriksen
Position: Midfielder
Age: 30
For five horrendous minutes last June, Christian Eriksen was – in his own words – "gone from this world”. At that stage, anything beyond his survival would have seemed like too much to hope and pray for.
Yet Eriksen was back playing Premier League football within nine months and, in March – 287 days after his cardiac arrest – he made his international comeback, scoring inside two minutes of entering the field. Fast forward another few months and the midfielder has swapped Brentford for Manchester United, and is once again pulling the midfield strings for both club and country. It is, beyond dispute, already the stuff of football fairy tales. And if another fantastic chapter is to be added in Qatar, Denmark are sure to need their star playmaker to help write it.
Eriksen was described as being “definitely one of the top ten [players in the world]” by then coach Age Hareide ahead of the last World Cup, and his vision, range of passing and ability in set-piece situations continue to make him Denmark’s key creator. With 38 goals, he is also the leading scorer in the current squad and sits in the country’s all-time top five.
“He’s a great player but an even greater person,” Hjulmand has enthused. “You don’t see many people at that level who always keep their feet on the ground, who are always themselves. And his love for football is unbelievable. I’ve never seen him without a ball near him.
“He is the captain in the rhythm of the game, the reading of the game, the feeling of a match. His eyes see everything. That’s how he leads. He is the heart and rhythm of this team.”
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Position: Midfielder
Age: 27
The platform for Eriksen to roam, picking holes in opposition defences, is provided by the men behind him. Thomas Delaney remains a key figure anchoring the Danish midfield, while Hojbjerg operates from box to box, breaking up opposition attacks and driving Denmark forward.
Hjulmand has described him as “contributing a lot, both offensively and defensively”, and the likes of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte – managers who have made him a midfield lynchpin at Tottenham Hotspur – fully agree. “No-one asks me about Pierre,” said the Italian, “but in every game he’s doing a fantastic job, with and without the ball.”
Hojbjerg has also spoken about the strong and special connection he has to the national team, and this tends to be reflected in his performances. "He gives everything for the team when he plays,” Hjulmand has acknowledged. “His personality is really strong. A fire is burning in Pierre.”
Simon Kjaer
Position: Centre-back
Age: 33
Jurgen Klopp doesn’t normally shower opposition players with compliments. It was notable, therefore, that he made a public exception in declaring that Kjaer – a visitor to Anfield with AC Milan – possessed “the respect of the entire football and sporting world”.
The centre-half is, of course, Denmark’s captain, their most experienced player and is fast closing in on Peter Schmeichel’s national appearance record of 129. But despite all that, and a club career that has seen him excel in the top flights of France, Germany, Italy and Spain, it was – as Klopp acknowledged – his “true leadership in a crisis” that has elevated the veteran defender to a new status.
It was for these same reasons that British newspaper The Guardian named Kjaer its ‘Footballer of 2021’ and why he received the UEFA President’s Award and finished 18th in the Ballon d’Or voting. Denmark’s captain had, after all, stepped up at the moment his team – and a close friend – needed him most, having rushed to Eriksen’s aid, placed him in the recovery position, cleared his airways and begun CPR on that dreadful afternoon last June.
Those actions alone were later credited by doctors as having saved the midfielder’s life. But Kjaer then proceeded to lead his team-mates in forming a protective ring around their stricken colleague before going to comfort and calm Eriksen's distraught partner.
Such acts represented the very definition of leadership. But for those who know him best, they were no surprise. As Hjulmand said later: “Simon was just the huge role model that he always is.”
As a figure around whom the entire team and nation can rally around, expect Kjaer to lead by example once again in Qatar.
Joakim Maehle
Position: Full-back
Age: 25
Many international strikers would be proud of averaging a goal every three matches. Most full-backs can only dream of such a strike rate.
Maehle, though, is no ordinary full-back. The Udinese star, who scored the goal against Austria that sealed Denmark’s World Cup place, became one of the stars of EURO 2020 after proving himself as potent in attack as he is dependable in defence.
Whether it’s on the right or left, as a full-back or wingback, Maehle is a favourite of Hjulmand’s and has made himself all but rotation-proof. “He has scored nine goals for us in the national team and is one of our best players every time,” the Denmark coach said recently. “I think he is a fantastic footballer.”
Versatility and range of defensive and attacking attributes made Maehle a key player when Hjulmand switched from a 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 at the EURO, and such tactical switches in Qatar will again lean heavily on him.
The only current concern is the unexpected loss of his starting spot at Udinese, which his national coach has described as “hard to understand” for a player he believes should be operating at the very top level.
Yussuf Poulsen
Position: Forward
Age: 28
The man who got Denmark off the mark at both Russia 2018 and EURO 2020, Poulsen will again be a key figure as Hjulmand’s side go hunting goals in Qatar. The Leipzig frontman, who has become the German club’s record appearance holder, does not – by his own admission – possess the technique of team-mates like Eriksen and Mikkel Damsgaard.
“I was never Denmark’s greatest talent, or the one everyone thought would make it,” Poulsen has said. "But whenever someone said I couldn’t, I wanted to show that I could.”
That determination has manifested itself in an energy and work-rate that makes him the perfect first line of defence. Club team-mate Willi Orban has lauded that industry as “incredible”, describing Poulsen as “a machine, with or without the ball”.
Tall, athletic and powerful, the big forward – whose late father was Tanzanian – brings a different dimension to Denmark’s attacking play. “Physically he's a monster,” Christian Norgaard, a Denmark colleague, has said. “He has a body like no other and can do things that very few players can do.”
