- Patrick O'Connor
- Tue, Nov 15 2022
Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand has named his 26-player squad for Qatar.
The Danes qualified comfortably from Group F, winning their six team group with 27 points from a maximum of 30. Their only defeat was in the final away match against Scotland, at which stage they had already won the group.
Denmark’s best performance in the World Cup was back in 1998 when they reached the quarter-final stage before being edged out 3-2 by Brazil.
They will be looking to go further this time and manager Kasper Hjulmand has picked a strong squad for Qatar, many of whom will be familiar to followers of the English Premier League.
Kasper Schmeichel, formerly of Leicester City but now with Nice in France, is their number one goalkeeper and is likely to start all their games unless injury dictates otherwise.
Two of the eight defenders named in the team ply their trade in England; Joachim Andersen and Rasmus Kristensed are with Crystal Palace and Leeds United respectively, while former Chelsea player Andreas Christensen, currently with Barcelona, was a regular at the heart of their defence during the qualification rounds.
Their star-studded midfield sector contains experienced campaigners such as Christen Eriksen (Manchester United), Thomas Delaney (Sevilla) and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Tottenham Hotspur).
Eriksen has made a remarkable recovery since suffering a cardiac arrest on the field during the European Championships last year and is currently one of Eric Ten Hag’s go-to players as he attempts to review the fortunes of the Red Devils.
Delaney was born in Denmark to an American born father but not surprisingly has Irish ancestry, his paternal great-grand father having emigrated from Ireland to the USA during the great famine of the 1840’s.
Hjulmand has named eight strikers in his squad, with Martin Braithwaite, formerly of Barcelona and currently with Espanyol in Spain, likely to lead the line alongside Kasper Dolberg of Sevilla.
Denmark have been drawn in Group D alongside holders France, Australia and Tunisia and they kick off their tournament against the African team on November 22 at the Education City Stadium.
GOALKEEPERS: Oliver Christensen (Hertha Berlin), Frederik Rønnow (Union Berlin), Kasper Schmeichel (Nice)
DEFENDERS: Joachim Andersen (Crystal Palace), Alexander Bah (Benfica), Andreas Christensen (Barcelona), Simon Kjær (AC Milan), Rasmus Kristensen (Leeds United), Jens Stryger Larsen (Trabzonspor), Joakim Mæle (Atalanta), Victor Nelsson (Galatasaray), Daniel Wass (Brøndby)
MIDFIELDERS: Thomas Delaney (Sevilla), Christian Eriksen (Manchester United), Pierre-Emile Højbjerg (Tottenham), Mathias Jensen (Brentford), Christian Nørgaard (Brentford), Robert Skov (Hoffenheim)
FORWARDS: Martin Braithwaite (Espanyol), Andreas Cornelius (Copenhagen), Mikkel Damsgaard (Brentford), Kasper Dolberg (Sevilla), Jesper Lindstrøm (Eintracht Frankfurt), Andreas Skov Olsen (Club Brugge), Yussuf Poulsen (RB Leipzig), Jonas Wind (Wolfsburg)
