Denmark vs Northern Ireland

This Saturday, Denmark will host Northern Ireland in a friendly match at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.

With the Nations League altering typical schedules, both teams find themselves without competitive fixtures this month, as their World Cup qualifying campaigns don’t kick off until September.

Denmark will be frustrated to miss out on a Nations League semi-final spot after a dramatic quarter-final loss to Portugal in March. Despite leading until the final moments in Lisbon, a late equalizer pushed the game to extra time, where Portugal clinched a 5-3 aggregate victory.

Under new manager Brian Riemer, formerly Brentford’s assistant, Denmark showed resilience following a lackluster Euro 2024, where they drew all three group matches against Slovenia, England, and Serbia before falling to Germany in a rain-drenched round-of-16 clash in Dortmund.

After Kasper Hjulmand’s departure post-Euros, Riemer steered Denmark to second in their Nations League group, surpassing Serbia and Switzerland with eight points from six matches. This performance bodes well for their World Cup qualifying group, which includes Scotland, Greece, and Belarus, where they’re favored to secure automatic qualification.

Denmark have consistently qualified for major tournaments in recent years, navigating Euro 2024 qualifying despite an early loss to Kazakhstan. However, with the upcoming World Cup qualifiers reduced to six matches from 10, there’s little margin for mistakes.

This friendly against a lower-ranked Northern Ireland could be valuable preparation, though Denmark have historically struggled against them, winning just one of six meetings this century. In Euro 2024 qualifying, Northern Ireland pulled off a shock victory on the final matchday, despite being out of contention, while Denmark had already secured first place.

Northern Ireland’s Euro 2024 qualifying campaign was disappointing, with only points against San Marino and seven losses in 10 matches. However, with Michael O’Neill back as manager, the architect of their Euro 2016 success, there’s hope for a revival.

They topped their Nations League group last autumn, edging out Bulgaria, but a 5-1 loss to Sweden in March highlights the challenges ahead in World Cup qualifying against Germany, Slovakia, and Luxembourg.