Denmark national football team

The Danish team that won their first Silver Medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Danish team, winning the Silver medals at the 1912 Olympics.

The first three editions of the Olympic football event in 1900–1906 had an unofficial status, as the event was not yet open for national football teams to compete, and only had limited participation of three or four club teams from a few nations. Denmark had no club team invited in the 1900 Olympics and the 1904 Olympics, but then received a special invitation for the 1906 Olympics, to compete against one Greek club team (Athens) and two club teams from the Ottoman Empire (Smyrna and Thessaloniki). The team to represent Denmark was compiled of players from the Copenhagen Football Association (KBU), and they won the event, and thereby an unofficial gold medal. Two years later, in the first official football tournament at the 1908 Olympics, Denmark won a silver medal. At the next Olympics, in 1912, the team again won a silver medal, which was followed by a golden era from July 1912 until August 1920, with Denmark ranked most of the time as number one in the world by the Elo ranking.

Although Denmark figured fairly prominently in the pre-FIFA World Cup era, international success would elude them for years from the first World Cup in 1930 and forward. Despite the country's ability to produce outstanding football talents, the Danish Football Union (DBU) only had the ambition (or economy) to send the national team to play friendly matches and in the regional tournament, the Nordic Championship, from October 1920 until June 1948. When DBU opted to set their sights higher, they allowed the national team to start contesting the Olympics again, promptly resulting in a bronze medal at the 1948 Olympics. After, the team only reached the quarter-final at the 1952 Olympics, with the DBU choosing not to contest the next 1956 Olympics. As football remained an amateur past-time, most of the best Danish footballers moved abroad to make a living,[2] and due to DBU enforcing the rule to bar all professionals from the national team, it started to become difficult to assemble a highly competitive team.

Denmark experienced their next revival at the 1960 Olympics with a third set of Olympic silver medals. This was followed by another notable performance at the 1964 European Nations' Cup, where Denmark impressively finished in fourth place. However, this finish was considered by many as being more the result of a comparatively easy draw rather than a result of a well-playing team. In order for Denmark to qualify for the semi-final, they only had to defeat Malta, Albania and Luxembourg. In the semi-final, Denmark fell 0–3 to the Soviet Union, then lost the bronze match to Hungary.

The strict rule of only allowing amateurism at the national team was finally abolished by the DBU in May 1971, as they had acknowledged this change was needed in order to build a highly competitive team. In February 1978, when the DBU also decided to allow professional football to be introduced in the Danish leagues, the way was at the same time paved for the national team to sign its first sponsorship with the well-known Danish brewery Carlsberg. The new sponsorship enabled the DBU to hire the German Sepp Piontek in July 1979 as the first full-time professional coach of the national team. The full transition of the national team from amateurism to professionalism had now been accomplished, and indeed, this would soon lead to a vast improvement in the performances of the team.[2]

According to Rob Smyth and Lars Eriksen, authors of a 2009 book on the "Danish Dynamite" team that would soon emerge:

That process [the transition to professionalism] was accelerated by the fact that so many of the national team were playing abroad, and values learned there were slowly seeping in. ... Denmark got a headstart on football globalisation, benefiting from the enlightenment and experience that comes with playing abroad. At Euro 84, their 20-man squad contained 14 overseas-based players; the other seven teams had only five between them. At Mexico 86, their squad included players from the champions of Italy, West Germany, England, Holland and Belgium, but not Denmark.[3]

In the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification, Denmark finished with eight points from eight matches, including a 3–1 win against the eventual World Cup champions Italy, but Denmark failed to qualify for the final tournament despite the impressive result. Qualification for UEFA Euro 1984 saw Denmark defeat England at Wembley Stadium when Allan Simonsen converted a penalty kick for a 1–0 win. Denmark qualified for their first international tournament since 1964, and the team was dubbed "Danish Dynamite" in a competition for the official Danish Euro 1984 song.[2] Denmark's participation ended in the semi-final when the team lost on penalties to Spain, most remembered for Preben Elkjær's penalty miss, his shorts torn apart. Following the strong performance at the finals, the name "Danish Dynamite" became a mainstay for the following decade of the Danish national team under head coach Sepp Piontek.[4]

Denmark made their first World Cup appearance in the 1986 World Cup, and with the attacking duo of Michael Laudrup and Preben Elkjær, the team surprised the world, sweeping the group, including a 6–1 thrashing of Uruguay. In the second round, Denmark once again faced Spain and once more lost, receiving a trashing of their own, losing 5–1, including four goals by Emilio Butragueño. The first Spanish goal was caused by a miss-timed backpass by Jesper Olsen to Butragueño, an unfortunate action subsequently coined as "a real Jesper Olsen" ("en rigtig Jesper Olsen"). The phrase would live on for 13 years, and was repeated by the Danish TV commentators in 1999, when an identical backpass was carried out by Jesper Grønkjær to Filippo Inzaghi in Grønkjær's debut for the national team.[5]

After the glory days of 1986, the success of the team continued, as it first qualified for Euro 1988, and then had a nearby qualification for the 1988 Olympics. In the qualification group for the Olympics, the job to coach Denmark in these particular games, had for the first time been given to Richard Møller Nielsen, and he proved his skills, as Denmark initially secured a spot for the final tournament – ahead of West Germany. But following the discovery that Dane Per Frimann was not eligible for the team's 2–0 win over Poland, Denmark was penalised the points of the win, and subsequently did not have enough points to qualify. After this disappointing news had arrived, Denmark had to pin all its hope and faith for a successful performance at Euro 1988. However, the opposite happened, as Denmark's participation ended in early defeat after Denmark lost all the group games to Spain, West Germany and Italy. A period of transition with faltering results had now started, and as Denmark subsequently also failed to qualify for the 1990 World Cup, Sepp Piontek resigned as head coach of the national team in April 1990, where he was replaced by his assistant, Richard Møller Nielsen.

The first goal for the newly appointed Nielsen was to qualify for Euro 1992 in Sweden. Denmark began with a secure home victory against the Faroe Islands, but the following results in the qualification were an away draw against Northern Ireland and a 2–0 home loss against Yugoslavia. Due to the poor start, as well as a strong disagreement with the coach about the new defensive team tactics, the two best Danish footballers at the time, Michael Laudrup and Brian Laudrup, opted to quit the national team in November 1990. When Nielsen subsequently decided to dismiss quality players such as Jan Mølby and Jan Heintze from the squad, due to disciplinary problems, several newspapers began demanding that Nielsen step down as head coach, as the team was clearly falling apart under his influence. Despite this strong criticism, Denmark won the rest of their five matches in the qualification group, including a 2–1 away win against Yugoslavia. However, this strong comeback was not enough to qualify, as the team still had to settle with a second place in the group, behind Yugoslavia.

What initially appeared to be a failed qualification would soon turn out to become Denmark's finest hour in the international competitions. Due to international sanctions resulting from the Yugoslav wars, UEFA announced on 31 May 1992 – only ten days prior to the competition – that Yugoslavia was to be excluded from the competition and their place given to Denmark, who finished as the second-placed team in its qualifying group.[6]

Contrary to popular belief,[2] the team did not enter the tournament completely unprepared, after having rallied home from seaside vacations. The majority of players were already assembled to play a friendly match against the CIS when Denmark officially received Yugoslavia's spot.[7] Relying heavily on goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel and his defence, as well as creative spark Brian Laudrup – having decided to make a comeback for the national team in April 1992 – the Danish team created one of the biggest surprises in the event's history, as they went on to win the European Championship trophy under head coach Nielsen's defensive playing style. Advancing from the group stage ahead of England and France, Denmark defeated the Netherlands – the defending Euro 1988 champions – on penalties in the semi-final. Then, in the final, Denmark won 2–0 win against reigning World Cup champions Germany, ensuring Denmark won its first international trophy.

In August 1993, one year after the Euro 1992 win, Michael Laudrup decided to settle his ongoing dispute with Richard Møller Nielsen about the team tactics and made a comeback to the national team. However, the following years Denmark saw mixed results, as they first failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, but then won the 1995 Confederations Cup, beating Copa América champions Argentina 2–0 in the final. As defending champions at Euro 1996, Denmark was not able to continue its previous success, but disappointed with a lacklustre performance after an early elimination in the group stage. Results-wise, the tournament was not a complete disaster, as the team had achieved a respectable win against Turkey, a draw against Portugal and only a defeat to Croatia. The reason why both the coach and team faced strong criticism after the tournament was mainly because of the defensive and "boring" playing style. As controversy previously had occurred in fall 1995 over the DBU's decision to extend Richard Møller Nielsen's contract as head coach, there was a strained relationship to the press already ahead of Euro 1996. Facing a new wave of criticism, Nielsen reached a mutual agreement with the DBU to terminate his contract by the end of June 1996.

Nielsen's replacement was the sympathetic Swede, Bo "Bosse" Johansson, who gave the team a more offensive strategy, and the 1998 World Cup saw the revival of the Danish team, starring both Laudrup brothers in their last international campaign. After defeating Saudi Arabia 1–0, drawing with South Africa and losing 2–1 to eventual champions France in mediocre matches, the Danish team qualified to the knockout stages as second in the group. In the next match, however, Denmark played some of the best football of the entire tournament, beating Nigeria 4–1 in a fantastic game. In the quarter-final against Brazil, the Danes went out with a beautiful 2–3 defeat to the later silver medalists in a very close and emotional game.

Johansson's next challenge was to qualify Denmark for Euro 2000, for the first time without the Laudrup brothers. When this goal was achieved by Johansson, he received significant praise. However, at the tournament proper, Denmark disappointed with three losses in the group stage. Johansson was heavily criticized for his squad selection, which containing several players with injury problems and in poor form.

FIFA World Rankings for Denmark, August 1993 – July 2009

The new coach, starting for Denmark in July 2000, turned out to be the former national team captain from the successful team of the 1980s, Morten Olsen, and the team was quickly dubbed the "Olsen Gang", a reference to the series of Danish movies based around the main character Egon Olsen and his genius (criminal) plans. The nickname was also sometimes used for the Danish team as an alternative to the more commonly used "Danish Dynamite", already in those days when Olsen played as a captain. In the era with Olsen as a coach, his great experience from among others Ajax was transferred to the national team, as Denmark's tactics shifted from the preferred 4–4–2 formation practised by Bo Johansson, to an even more attacking style with an emphasis on the speedy wingers available at the time, namely Jesper Grønkjær and Dennis Rommedahl.[8] Accordingly, the Olsen's preferred formation has been either a 4–3–3 or a 4–2–3–1.[9][10] Olsen even possessed an outspoken opposition to the 4–4–2 system, as he threatened to leave his position as head coach in the event he was asked to deploy Denmark in that formation.[11] To support the development of players for the new tactical 4–3–3 system, all national youth teams also changed their formation.[12] Another change Olsen brought to the national team was to stress the importance of only using fit players who had been granted regular playing time at their club. However, at times he was forced to compromise from this principle, as the pool of players available in the relatively small nation did not always provide him viable substitute options.

Denmark qualified both for the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, but despite impressive results in the group stage in both tournaments, especially the 2–0 win against reigning World Cup winners France in 2002, Denmark did not manage to advance any further, and in both tournaments were clearly defeated with a score of 0–3 in the first round after the group stage. At the 2002 World Cup, Denmark was defeated by England in the round of 16, and at Euro 2004, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals against the Czech Republic. Euro 2004 will also be remembered for an incident in the group stage match against Italy, where Italy star Francesco Totti was caught on camera spitting on Christian Poulsen, then subsequently the joint elimination of Italy by Denmark and Sweden in the last group stage match, when the two teams drew 2–2 following a Swedish goal in the 89th minute, making for the exact and famous result that would see the Italians eliminated.

For the 2006 World Cup qualification, Denmark was paired with, among others, 2002 World Cup bronze winners Turkey and Euro 2004 champions Greece competing for only one guaranteed spot at the final tournament. Following a poor start of the qualification, Denmark was trailing both Turkey and surprise leaders Ukraine. Denmark needed Turkey to lose points in the final games in order for Denmark to clinch the second place of the group and one last chance to qualify via two playoff games. Indeed, had Turkey dropped points to Albania in their last match, Denmark would have gone through, but instead, they had to settle for third place in the group and a longer summer break. After failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, Morten Olsen considered leaving the job, having received several offers from club teams, but decided to stay and extended his contract until after the 2010 World Cup, spurred on by his and the team's popularity among the Danish population.[13]

When Denmark's attempt to qualify for the Euro 2008 also failed – after among other things, to have received an administrative defeat against Sweden at home turf due to a spectator's intrusion on the field – the team was heavily criticized, with many Danes asking for the departure of Morten Olsen as a coach. This suggestion was however refused by the DBU and the majority of coaches in the Danish Superliga, who still had trust in Olsen being the best coach for Denmark.[14] In the qualification group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the trust in Olsen was immediately paid back. Despite a difficult group with both Portugal and Sweden as higher-ranked opponents, Denmark qualified for the 2010 World Cup by winning the group, after among other things, earning two wins against Sweden and one win and one draw against Portugal. After having celebrated the successful World Cup 2010 qualification, Olsen's contract as head coach was extended for two further years, until the Euro 2012.[15]

At the 2010 World Cup, Denmark was grouped with Japan, Cameroon and the Netherlands. Denmark lost the first match 2–0 to Netherlands, but then had a vital 2–1 victory against Cameroon, which enabled further advancement in case of victory over Japan, in the last third match. The game against Japan however ended with a 3–1 defeat, and thereby Denmark did not reach their objective of advancing to the round of 16. Apparently the biggest reason for the lack of success, was however this time, that Denmark in both the preface – and during the three games at the tournament – had struggled with a lot of injuries hitting their best players. However, Denmark wouldn't wait for long to please the Danish public once again. In the qualification for Euro 2012, Denmark was once again grouped with Portugal, among other countries. For a second time, Denmark clinched first place in the group, and thereby qualified directly for the final tournament. Out of eight qualifying matches, Denmark won six, drew one and lost one. Mostly because of these results, the DBU extended Olsen's contract until after the 2014 World Cup.

At Euro 2012, Denmark were drawn in the proclaimed "Group of death", Group B, alongside powerhouses Germany, Netherlands and Portugal. Few gave Denmark a chance of proceeding to the second round before the tournament, but after upsetting Netherlands with a 1–0 victory, there was cause for optimism in the Danish camp. However, a narrow 3–2 loss to Portugal meant Denmark would effectively need to defeat Germany in the last match to advance in the tournament. Despite Michael Krohn-Dehli's equaliser, Denmark lost 2–1 to neighbours Germany, and with Portugal defeating the Netherlands 2–1 in the other match, Denmark was eliminated from the tournament after finishing third in Group B. Denmark was mostly praised after the tournament, considering Denmark had exceeded expectations and were close to advancing to the knockout stages despite being drawn in a difficult group.

Denmark failed to qualify for the next two tournaments under Olsen. They finished second in their 2014 World Cup qualifying group but failed to achieve a play-off berth as they were the "worst" of the UEFA group runners-up (after excluding results against the bottom teams). In UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying they finished third in their group, behind Albania and eventual winners Portugal, but lost to Sweden in the play-offs.

When measuring the performance of the national team by winning share and earned points, Olsen's reign of the Danish national team from July 2000 until January 2012 has so far been the second-most successful in the era of full-time professional coaches, which began in July 1979. As of January 2012, Olsen had a winning share of 52.8%, and with three points for a victory and one for a draw, an average of 1.84 points per match.[16] In comparison, Richard Møller Nielsen still has the best record among the professional coaches of the national team, with a 54.8% winning share and an average of 1.89 points per game.[17]

New coach Åge Hareide presided over the Danish campaign during the qualification stages.[18] Denmark, ranked number 24 in the FIFA World Rankings at the time of the draw, were drawn into Group E, alongside Poland, Montenegro, Romania, Armenia, and Kazakhstan.[19] Despite suffering early defeats to Poland and Montenegro,[20][21] the Danes rallied, and secured second place in the group, and a berth in the play-offs, with a 1–0 away to Montenegro.[22] Denmark were rewarded for their second-place finish with a play-off against the Republic of Ireland.[23] Denmark secured qualification with a 5–1 win at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, which included a hat-trick of goals from Christian Eriksen, who added to his tally of eight goals in qualification.[24]

Denmark were allocated into Pot 3 in advance of the draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.[25] They were drawn into Group C, alongside Australia, Peru, and eventual champions France.[26] Their campaign in Russia began in the Mordovia Arena, Saransk, against CONMEBOL side Peru. A Yussuf Poulsen goal in the second half secured three points for the Danes, leaving them well poised for qualification from the group.[27] However, they struggled against Australia in their second tie, as Christian Eriksen's early goal was cancelled out by a VAR-awarded penalty, converted by Mile Jedinak, in a game which ended as a 1–1 draw.[28] Denmark secured qualification in their final group game, playing out a limp goalless draw, the only such game of the entire tournament,[29] in the Luzhniki Stadium against France; a result which saw both teams progress.[30]

Denmark faced Croatia in the round of 16, with the Croats having claimed victory in Group D with three consecutive wins.[31] Mathias Jørgensen scored within the first minute of the game to give Denmark the lead, but Mario Mandzukic equalised only three minutes later, leaving the teams equally perched at one goal apiece.[32] The match remained at 1–1 after ninety minutes, necessitating thirty minutes of extra-time, which still failed to separate the teams, as Luka Modric saw his late penalty saved by goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.[32] As such, the tie was to be decided with a penalty shoot-out, with Schmeichel and his Croatian counterpart, Danijel Subašić, positioning themselves on the line to face five penalties each.[33] Despite Schmeichel making two saves, it was Croatia who progressed, as Subašić saved three shots from Eriksen, Lasse Schöne and Nicolai Jørgensen respectively. Ivan Rakitić scored the decisive penalty to eliminate the Danes,[33] putting an end to their best World Cup campaign since 2002, when they were eliminated at the same stage.[34]

Following the World Cup, Denmark prepared for participation in the inaugural iteration of the UEFA Nations League, having been drawn in League B against Wales and the Republic of Ireland.[35] The tournament offers an alternative route of qualification for the European Championship,[36] and increases the number of competitive games for international sides, replacing friendlies.[37]

Owing to a dispute with the players' union regarding the commercial rights of the players,[38] the Danish Football Union named an entirely uncapped squad, consisting of a mixture of futsal players and players from the Danish 2nd Division and the Denmark Series (the third and fourth tier of Danish football respectively), in lieu of the regular side, to face Slovakia in a pre-Nations League friendly, and it was feared that the same squad would be used for the competitive fixture against Wales.[39][40] The dispute arose due to the image rights of the players,[41] with Hummel having the exclusive right to the manufacture and marketing of Danish kits.[42] The DBU wanted to use individual players, without explicit permissions, in their advertising.[43][44] Hareide would similarly not be involved, with the side instead falling under the temporary management of John Jensen, with Hasse Kuhn serving as the assistant manager.[38] The Danish FA are currently under a four-year probationary period with UEFA for having forfeited a Women's World Cup qualification game against Sweden in 2017 due to a similar dispute with the women's team,[45] and a further violation could result in Denmark being prohibited from participation in either the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League or the 2020 European Championship.[46] After a temporary agreement enabled the return of the regular players, the Danes won their first Nations League fixture 2–0.[47]

Hareide managed Denmark during the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying and got four wins and four draws resulting in a second place, which meant that Denmark qualified for the tournament. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament was postponed to 2021, and Hareide's contract expired on 30 June 2020. He was replaced by Kasper Hjulmand.

Apart from the national team, Denmark is equally famous for its traveling fans, known as roligans. The movement emerged during the 1980s as the declared opposition to hooliganism. The goal of the roligan movement is calm, yet cheerful, support during the matches, as "rolig" means "calm" in the Danish language. The roligans have since developed an image of easy-going nature and rabid support, and are often considered amongst the world's best national team fans, along with the Tartan Army of Scotland. They were collectively given the FIFA FairPlay Award at the 1984 European Championships.[48] Just before the 1986 World Cup, the roligan movement was organized in order to support the national team at the tournament.

However, the good reputation of the Danish supporters was sullied by the 2008 UEFA qualifier fan attack which occurred in June 2007 in the Euro 2008 qualifying match against Sweden when an enraged Danish supporter invaded the pitch and tried to attack the referee, following his decision to hand out a red card for Christian Poulsen and a penalty kick to Sweden in the last minute of the match. The attacking fan was stopped by some of the Danish football players on the field before he reached the referee, but due to the episode, the match was immediately cancelled by the referee, with UEFA subsequently deciding to award a 0–3 default defeat to Denmark as punishment.

Denmark's main rival is Sweden. The countries have played against each other 107 times, of which Denmark have won 40, drawn 20 and lost 47. The first match between the teams was an 8–0 Denmark win in May 1913. Denmark won their first five matches against Sweden before their first defeat in October 1916 by the score 4–0. The first competitive match between the countries was as 1–0 loss for Denmark in the group stage of UEFA Euro 1992. Both teams advanced from the group stage and Denmark went on to win the tournament. In UEFA Euro 2004 the teams drew 2–2 in the last group stage match, ensuring that both teams advanced at the expense of Italy. In Denmark's home match against Sweden in the qualification for UEFA Euro 2008, the visitors were awarded a 3–0 win after a Danish fan invaded the pitch and attacked the referee. The reverse fixture ended in a goalless draw and Denmark failed to qualify for the final tournament. In the qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Denmark won both matches against Sweden by 1–0 and qualified for the World Cup. In the play-offs round of the qualification for UEFA Euro 2016, Denmark lost against Sweden by 4–3 on aggregate and failed to qualify for the final tournament. The most recent match between the countries was a goalless draw in June 2018.[49]

The team kit is produced by Danish company Hummel. It is all-red with white details to reflect the colours of the Danish national flag. Prior to the period of Adidas sponsorship, the kit provider was also Hummel from 1979 to 2004.[50]

Kit provider	Period
Hummel	1979–2004
Adidas	2004–2016
Hummel	2016–present

Denmark's home and away matches are broadcast by SBS Discovery Media (Kanal 5, 6'eren, Canal 9).

FIFA World Cup record										FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1930	Did not enter									Did not enter
1934
1938
1950
1954
1958	Did not qualify									4	0	0	4	4	13
1962	Did not enter									Did not enter
1966	Did not qualify									6	1	1	4	7	18
1970										6	2	1	3	6	10
1974										4	0	1	3	2	13
1978										6	2	0	4	14	12
1982										8	4	0	4	14	11
1986	Round of 16	9th	4	3	0	1	10	6		8	5	1	2	17	6
1990	Did not qualify									6	3	2	1	15	6
1994										12	7	4	1	15	2
1998	Quarter-finals	8th	5	2	1	2	9	7		8	5	2	1	14	6
2002	Round of 16	10th	4	2	1	1	5	5		10	6	4	0	22	6
2006	Did not qualify									12	6	4	2	24	12
2010	Group stage	24th	3	1	0	2	3	6		10	6	3	1	16	5
2014	Did not qualify									10	4	4	2	17	12
2018	Round of 16	11th	4	1	3	0	3	2		12	7	3	2	25	9
2022	To be determined
2026
Total	Quarter-finals	5/21	20	9	5	6	30	26	122	58	30	34	212	141

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Denmark's World Cup record
First Match	Scotland 0–1 Denmark  (Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico; 4 June 1986)
Biggest Win	Denmark 6–1 Uruguay  (Nezahualcóyotl, Mexico; 8 June 1986)
Biggest Defeat	Denmark 1–5 Spain  (Querétaro, Mexico; 18 June 1986)
Best Result	Quarter-finals in 1998
Worst Result	Group stage in 2010

*Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won.

As of 18 November 2020 after the match against  Belgium[66][67]

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

Opponent	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Albania	10	6	3	1	19	4	+15
Algeria	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Argentina	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2
Armenia	8	6	1	1	13	7	+6
Australia	4	2	1	1	6	3	+3
Austria	9	4	1	4	15	14	+1
Belarus	2	1	1	0	1	0	+1
Belgium	15	6	3	6	25	27	-2
Benin	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Bermuda	2	2	0	0	11	1	+10
Bosnia and Herzegovina	5	1	2	2	5	8	−3
Brazil	3	1	0	2	7	6	+1
Bulgaria	16	4	8	4	21	20	+1
Cameroon	3	2	0	1	5	4	+1
Canada	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Chile	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1
Croatia	6	2	2	2	7	8	−1
Curaçao	2	2	0	0	6	3	+3
Cyprus	6	5	1	0	21	3	+18
Czech Republic[lower-alpha 1]	25	2	11	12	16	41	−25
East Germany	6	2	2	2	10	10	0
Egypt	3	2	1	0	7	2	+5
England	25	6	5	15	27	46	−19
Estonia	1	0	1	0	2	2	0
Faroe Islands	4	4	0	0	14	1	+13
Finland	59	39	10	10	153	58	+95
France	16	6	2	8	37	20	+17
Gambia	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3
Georgia	5	3	2	0	15	5	+10
Germany[lower-alpha 2]	27	8	4	15	37	54	−17
Ghana	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Gibraltar	2	2	0	0	12	0	+12
Greece	16	9	4	3	34	18	+16
Honduras	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Hungary	16	3	4	9	16	40	−24
Iceland	25	21	4	0	78	15	+63
Indonesia	1	1	0	0	9	0	+9
Iran	2	1	1	0	4	0	+4
Israel	8	7	0	1	18	4	+14
Italy	13	3	2	8	16	24	−8
Japan	2	1	0	1	4	5	−1
Kazakhstan	4	4	0	0	12	3	+9
Kosovo	1	0	1	0	2	2	0
Latvia	4	3	1	0	7	1	+6
Liechtenstein	3	3	0	0	13	0	+13
Lithuania	2	1	1	0	4	0	+4
Luxembourg	11	9	2	0	33	8	+25
North Macedonia	3	1	1	1	2	4	−2
Malta	9	9	0	0	32	4	+28
Mexico	4	2	1	1	6	5	+1
Montenegro	3	2	0	1	3	2	+1
Morocco	1	1	0	0	3	1	+2
Netherlands	31	9	10	12	43	59	−16
Nigeria	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3
Northern Ireland	11	4	5	2	14	9	+5
Norway	89	54	14	21	227	105	+122
Panama	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Paraguay	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1
Peru	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Poland	22	12	2	8	46	37	+9
Portugal	15	3	2	10	18	31	−13
Republic of Ireland	19	4	10	5	23	23	0
Romania	18	6	4	8	27	34	−7
Russia[lower-alpha 3]	12	1	1	10	10	36	−26
Saudi Arabia	3	3	0	0	4	0	+4
Scotland	16	6	0	10	12	20	−8
Senegal	3	2	1	0	6	3	+3
Serbia[lower-alpha 4]	11	4	0	7	20	25	−5
Slovakia	3	1	0	2	3	7	−4
Slovenia	4	4	0	0	11	1	+10
South Africa	3	0	2	1	2	3	−1
South Korea	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Spain	17	2	3	12	15	34	−19
Suriname	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
Switzerland	12	4	6	2	17	14	+3
Sweden	108	42	20	46	176	186	−10
Togo	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Tunisia	2	2	0	0	5	2	+3
Turkey	10	3	5	2	12	9	+3
Ukraine	3	1	1	1	2	2	0
United Arab Emirates	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
United States	3	2	1	0	8	5	+3
Uruguay	2	2	0	0	8	2	+6
Wales	10	6	0	4	12	9	+3
Total	837	382	176	270	1,530	1,153	+377
Includes matches against  Czechoslovakia. Includes matches against  West Germany. Includes matches against the  Soviet Union and the  CIS. Includes matches against  Yugoslavia.

• UEFA European Championship
  • Winners: 1992
  • Semi-final: 1984
  • Fourth place: 1964
• FIFA Confederations Cup
  • Winners: 1995
• Football at the Summer Olympics
  • Silver: 1908, 1912, 1960
  • Bronze: 1948

• Nordic Football Championship (3): 1924–28, 1978–80, 1981–85
• Football at the Intercalated Games (1): 1906
• Lunar New Year Cup (2): 1994, 2006 [68]

The following players were called up for the friendly match against the Sweden on 11 November, and also the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League matches against Iceland on 15 November and Belgium on 18 November.
Caps and goals updated as of 18 November 2020 after the match against Belgium.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Kasper Schmeichel (Vice-captain)	(1986-11-05) 5 November 1986	60	0	Leicester City
16	1GK	Jonas Lössl	(1989-02-01) 1 February 1989	1	0	Midtjylland
22	1GK	Frederik Rønnow	(1992-08-04) 4 August 1992	8	0	Schalke 04
2	2DF	Rasmus Kristensen	(1997-07-11) 11 July 1997	0	0	Red Bull Salzburg
3	2DF	Jannik Vestergaard	(1992-08-03) 3 August 1992	19	1	Southampton
4	2DF	Simon Kjær (Captain)	(1989-03-26) 26 March 1989	102	3	Milan
5	2DF	Alexander Scholz	(1992-10-24) 24 October 1992	0	0	Midtjylland
6	2DF	Andreas Christensen	(1996-04-10) 10 April 1996	38	1	Chelsea
13	2DF	Mathias Jørgensen	(1990-04-23) 23 April 1990	34	2	Copenhagen
14	2DF	Henrik Dalsgaard	(1989-07-27) 27 July 1989	26	1	Brentford
	2DF	Joakim Mæhle	(1997-05-20) 20 May 1997	6	1	Atalanta
7	3MF	Jens Jønsson	(1993-01-10) 10 January 1993	2	0	Cádiz
8	3MF	Thomas Delaney	(1991-09-03) 3 September 1991	50	5	Borussia Dortmund
10	3MF	Christian Eriksen	(1992-02-14) 14 February 1992	103	36	Internazionale
12	3MF	Alexander Bah	(1997-12-09) 9 December 1997	1	1	Slavia Prague
15	3MF	Mathias Jensen	(1996-01-01) 1 January 1996	4	0	Brentford
18	3MF	Daniel Wass	(1989-05-31) 31 May 1989	26	0	Valencia
	3MF	Pierre-Emile Højbjerg	(1995-08-05) 5 August 1995	38	3	Tottenham Hotspur
	3MF	Anders Christiansen	(1990-06-08) 8 June 1990	4	0	Malmö
9	4FW	Martin Braithwaite	(1991-06-05) 5 June 1991	46	7	Barcelona
11	4FW	Pione Sisto	(1995-02-04) 4 February 1995	25	1	Midtjylland
19	4FW	Mikkel Damsgaard	(2000-07-03) 3 July 2000	1	0	Sampdoria
20	4FW	Yussuf Poulsen	(1994-06-15) 15 June 1994	50	7	RB Leipzig
21	4FW	Jonas Wind	(1999-02-07) 7 February 1999	4	2	Copenhagen
23	4FW	Lucas Andersen	(1994-09-13) 13 September 1994	7	0	AaB

The following list of active players were not called up for the latest match of the national team, but were called up for an A-level match within the last 12 months.

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Oliver Christensen	(1999-03-22) 22 March 1999	1	0	OB	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
GK	Jesper Hansen	(1985-03-31) 31 March 1985	0	0	Midtjylland	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
GK	Thomas Mikkelsen	(1983-08-27) 27 August 1983	0	0	Lyngby	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
DF	Jens Stryger Larsen	(1991-02-21) 21 February 1991	31	1	Udinese	v.  Iceland, 15 November 2020
DF	Erik Sviatchenko	(1991-10-04) 4 October 1991	5	1	Midtjylland	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
DF	Jakob Ahlmann	(1991-01-18) 18 January 1991	3	0	AaB	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
DF	Andreas Maxsø	(1994-03-18) 18 March 1994	1	0	Brøndby	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
DF	Victor Nelsson	(1998-10-14) 14 October 1998	1	0	Copenhagen	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
DF	Kristian Pedersen	(1994-08-04) 4 August 1994	1	0	Birmingham City	v.  Faroe Islands, 7 October 2020
DF	Joachim Andersen	(1996-05-31) 31 May 1996	1	0	Fulham	v.  England, 8 September 2020
MF	Rasmus Falk	(1992-01-15) 15 January 1992	2	0	Copenhagen	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
MF	Oliver Abildgaard	(1996-06-10) 10 June 1996	1	0	Rubin Kazan	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
MF	Jesper Lindstrøm	(2000-02-29) 29 February 2000	1	0	Brøndby	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
MF	Carlo Holse	(1999-06-02) 2 June 1999	0	0	Rosenborg	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
MF	Magnus Kofod Andersen	(1999-05-10) 10 May 1999	0	0	Nordsjælland	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
MF	Lukas Lerager	(1993-07-12) 12 July 1993	10	1	Copenhagen	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020INJ
MF	Philip Billing	(1996-06-11) 11 June 1996	1	0	Bournemouth	v.  England, 14 October 2020
MF	Christian Nørgaard	(1994-05-10) 10 May 1994	1	0	Brentford	v.  England, 8 September 2020INJ
FW	Kasper Dolberg	(1997-10-06) 6 October 1997	22	5	Nice	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020INJ
FW	Anders Dreyer	(1998-05-02) 2 May 1998	0	0	Midtjylland	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
FW	Patrick Mortensen	(1989-07-13) 13 July 1989	0	0	AGF	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020
FW	Robert Skov	(1996-05-20) 20 May 1996	8	4	1899 Hoffenheim	v.  Sweden, 11 November 2020INJ
FW	Christian Gytkjær	(1990-05-06) 6 May 1990	9	5	Monza	v.  England, 14 October 2020
FW	Andreas Skov Olsen	(1999-12-29) 29 December 1999	2	1	Bologna	v.  Iceland, 11 October 2020INJ
FW	Andreas Cornelius	(1993-03-16) 16 March 1993	27	5	Parma	v.  Faroe Islands, 7 October 2020INJ
FW	Jacob Bruun Larsen	(1998-09-19) 19 September 1998	1	0	Anderlecht	v.  England, 8 September 2020
INJ Injured or recovering from surgery. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Retired from the national team.

The players are freely chosen by the national team manager. They are normally assembled from their respective club teams at the Hotel Marienlyst in Elsinore for a week-long training camp preluding the upcoming match. Friendly matches are typically played on a Wednesday evening. World Cup qualifiers are played on both Saturday and Wednesday evenings, while Euro qualifiers now take place on both a Friday and Tuesday evening when playing two matches in a row, or on a Friday/Saturday/Tuesday at rounds with only one match scheduled.[69][70]

In November 2006, the DBU nominated eight Danish national team footballers for the "Best Danish Footballer of All Time" award. The nominated players were Morten Olsen, Henning Jensen, Allan Simonsen, Preben Elkjær, Michael Laudrup, Brian Laudrup, Peter Schmeichel and Jon Dahl Tomasson. The winner of the award was decided by a public vote arranged by the broadcasting channel TV2, which ended with Michael Laudrup as a clear winner, with 58% of the votes.[71]

Denmark's Hall of Fame was established in October 2008, as a special award to celebrate the best footballers, teams and coaches; throughout the history of the national team. A jury with 6 people (representing the newspapers, authors of football books, active players of the national team, TV2, the DBU, and a Hall of Fame member), each year have the job to award one or two new members for the Hall of Fame. The award will be handed out at the official Danish Football Awards, which is a yearly television broadcast event – organized by the DBU in November throughout 2008 to 2013 and subsequently moved to a later date in February. Beside of receiving the award, all Hall of Fame members are also invited to leave a footprint in bronze, to decorate the entrance hall at "Fodboldens hus" -the DBU headquarters in Brøndby.[72] When the DBU celebrated its 125-year anniversary in May 2014, it decided to make an extraordinary award of nine additional Hall of Fame Members, all playing during the first half of the DBU national team's existence, from 1908 to 1964.[73] Because of financial restraints, the DBU cancelled the planned televised broadcast of the Football Award in February 2015, and for the same reason opted not to award any new Hall of Fame members in this specific year. The DBU expected to return awarding new Hall of Fame members again, when the next broadcast Football Award event is organized in February 2016.[74]

Sorted by last year appearing at the national football team.

Each national team player receives a set amount of money per match, including bonuses for a win and qualification for European Championship and World Cup tournaments. Throughout the years, the prize money has gone from around €1,340 for a match win in 1987 and around €26,800 for the Euro 1988 participation alone, to around €67,000 for the 1998 World Cup, and up to €107,000 for the 2002 World Cup participations, per player.[87]

Currently, the payments for participation in games outside the big tournaments are regulated by a collective agreement – to be renegotiated after a certain number of years – while all payments for participation of players in a final tournament squad are regulated by the "1998 agreement" between the DBU and Spillerforeningen. The "1998 agreement" stipulates that whenever the national team qualifies for a World Cup or European Championship tournament, the selected players for the final tournament shall receive 50% of the DBU's revenues from the event, and 65% of the DBU's revenues from the sale of merchandise and license agreements. Additionally, the sponsors of the national team also pay a relatively high "qualification bonus" each time the team qualifies for a final tournament. This bonus is shared between the group of players being selected for the final 18-man squad, to one or several of the qualification matches played, with the exact distribution normally decided according to the number of times the player was selected.[88]

Each of the 23 selected players for the 2002 World Cup received DKK 498,000 (equal to €66,800) from the event revenues,[88] plus DKK 122,900 (equal to €16,500) from the sale of merchandise and license agreements, plus an unknown qualification bonus from the sponsors, plus the standard payment from the DBU each time they were selected for the final 18-man squad to a qualification match.[89] In comparison, each of the 23 selected players for the 2010 World Cup received DKK 635,000 (equal to €85,100) from the event revenues, plus DKK 98,900 (equal to €13,200) from the sale of merchandise and license agreements, plus a qualification bonus from the sponsors at DKK 2,800,000 (equal to €375,000) to be shared between the players – corresponding to an amount of €2,080 per time the player was selected for the final 18-man squad to a qualification match. In addition to the qualification bonus, the players also received this standard payment from the DBU each time they were selected for the 18-man squad to a qualification match:[89]

• Starting fee: home games = DKK 1,2 per spectator, away games = DKK 8,290
• Bonus for a draw: home games = DKK 0, away games = DKK 9,475
• Bonus for a win: home games = DKK 17,765, away games = DKK 29,600

Based on Denmark's results and number of spectators at home matches,[16] the standard qualification match payment to a player selected for all Denmark's qualification matches equals a total amount of DKK 235,898 (or €31,600) for the six qualification matches in the 2008–09 season, and a total amount of DKK 170,788 (or €22,900) for the four qualification matches in the 2009–10 season. Finally, the players could also add a seasonal payment named "regular bonus" from the sponsors, with a total of DKK 4,350,000 (equal to €583,100) to be shared each season by the squad of 18 players selected for a match, meaning a player who was selected for all national team matches from 1 August to 31 July would receive an additional DKK 241,700 (equal to €32,400) payment in both the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons.[89]

The last amount of a players income generated by the national team is the standard payment received for each friendly match:[90]

• Starting fee: home games = DKK 1,0 per spectator, away games = DKK 5,000
• Bonus for a draw: home games = DKK 0, away games = DKK 0
• Bonus for a win: home games = DKK 10,000, away games = DKK 10,000

Based on Denmark's results and number of spectators at home matches,[16] the standard payment to a player selected for all Denmark's friendly matches equals a total amount of DKK 41,426 (or €5,500) for the three friendly matches in the 2008–09 season, and a total amount of DKK 88,773 (or €11,900) for the seven friendly matches in the 2009–10 season.

When all these payments are added together for a player, under the assumption a player was selected for all matches in each season as well as the final 2010 World Cup squad, he would have received a total payment from the DBU of €69,500 in the 2008–09 season and a total payment from the DBU of €186,300 in the 2009–10 season.

As of 18 November 2020

Players listed in bold are still active at national level.

Peter Schmeichel is the most capped player in the history of Denmark with 129 caps.

As of 18 November 2020

Players listed in bold are still active at national level.

Jon Dahl Tomasson is the joint top scorer in the history of Denmark with 52 goals and current assistant manager of the Danish national team.

The responsibility and job description for the manager of the Denmark national football team, has changed throughout the history. From 1908 to 1918, the DBU preferred to assign a manager with the overall responsibility. This was followed by a long era from 1919 to 1956 where either no manager or only a caretaker manager was assigned. When the DBU assigned Arne Sørensen (November 1956 – December 1961) and Poul Petersen (January 1962 –December 1966) as managers for a rolling period of several years, they were given the responsibility to coach the physical training and decide the team tactics before and during each match, but had no influence upon the selection of players for the national squad, which was a job for the specially-appointed selection committee, the UdtagelsesKomitéen.[91]

From 1967 to 1969, the management of the team more or less became a sole responsibility for the UdtagelsesKomitéen, following a new approach. In this new approach, the job to select players continued to be the responsibility for the UdtagelsesKomitéen, but the chairman of the committee was now also appointed to be the "tactical manager" of the national team, as the DBU realized the need of having a special tactical manager assigned to get influence upon both the selection of players and the related tactics before and during the game. However, the appointed tactical manager did not have the responsibility to train the squad, as a special physical coach was instead selected for that job. In 1970, the approach with two managers assigned was again abandoned when the DBU realized the need to assign only one manager with the sole responsibility for the squad.[91]

From 1970 to 1979, the job to select players was not yet a sole responsibility of the manager alone, but only a shared responsibility, as this continued to be a matter for the UdtagelsesKomitéen to decide. When a selection of players had to be made, it was decided by a vote in the committee, with the appointed manager being granted an influence of three votes and the four members of the committee being granted one vote each. This special selection procedure continued until July 1979, where it was decided to award the sole responsibility of all manager-related areas to the manager himself, with the assignment of Sepp Piontek as the first full-time professional manager of the national team.[91]

The box below, list all assigned football managers for the national team, since the first official game in October 1908. During the years from 1911 to 1961, a total of 169 games were played without an assigned manager.

Manager	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Charlie Williams	October 1908	December 1910	4	3	0	1	075.00
No manager	January 1911	December 1912	5	3	0	2	060.00
Axel Andersen Byrval	January 1913 January 1917	December 1915 December 1918	16	14	1	1	087.50
No manager	January 1916 January 1919	December 1916 July 1920	10	5	1	4	050.00
Caretaker manager	August 1920	August 1920	1	0	0	1	000.00
No manager	September 1920	December 1938	77	35	13	29	045.45
Caretaker managers	January 1939	October 1956	18	10	3	5	055.56
No manager	July 1939	September 1956	74	29	11	34	039.19
Arne Sørensen	November 1956	December 1961	41	20	8	13	048.78
No manager	June 1957	September 1961	3	1	0	2	033.33
Poul Petersen	January 1962	December 1966	47	17	8	22	036.17
Erik Hansen (tactical coach) Ernst Netuka (training coach)	January 1967	December 1967	8	4	2	2	050.00
Erik Hansen (tactical coach) Henry From (training coach)	January 1968	January 1969	11	4	1	6	036.36
John Hansen (tactical coach) Henry From (training coach)	February 1969	December 1969	9	5	1	3	055.56
Rudi Strittich	January 1970	December 1975	61	20	11	30	032.79
Kurt "Nikkelaj" Nielsen	January 1976	June 1979	31	13	6	12	041.94
Sepp Piontek	July 1979	April 1990	115	52	24	39	045.22
Richard Møller Nielsen	May 1987 May 1990	May 1988[lower-alpha 1] June 1996	73	40	18	15	054.79
Bo Johansson	July 1996	June 2000	40	17	9	14	042.50
Morten Olsen	July 2000	November 2015	166	80	42	44	048.19
Åge Hareide	December 2015	June 2020	42	21	18	3	050.00
John Jensen (caretaker)[lower-alpha 2]	5 September 2018		1	0	0	1	000.00
Kasper Hjulmand	July 2020[lower-alpha 3]		7	4	1	2	057.14
Ebbe Sand (caretaker)[lower-alpha 4]	11 November 2020		1	1	0	0	100.00
Total			845	392	171	282	046.39