Denmark did not have much of an impact on international football until the mid 1980s when they reached the semi finals of the 1984 European Championship. They went on to win the competition in 1992, benefiting because Yugoslavia got banned due to the war they were involved in at the time. They head to the World Cup as one of the many teams that could make it out of their group, but are not expected to cause much difficulty to the favored teams.
They didn’t qualify for the World Cup until 1986. In this tournament, they surprised many by winning all their group games, the highlight of which was a 6-1 destruction of Uruguay. The attacking prowess of Michael Laudrup was evident for all to see, but they were then hammered 5-1 in the second round by Spain, Emilio Butragueno netting four times. In 1998, Denmark surprised the world by reaching the quarterfinals, with Michael Laudrup one again at the forefront, this time aided by his brother Brian. They were eventually beaten 3-2 by Brazil in one of the games of the tournament. Their 2002 campaign ended with a disappointing 3-0 surrender to England.
After failing to qualify for the last World Cup, Denmark were determined not to miss out again, but had to contend with Portugal, Sweden and Hungary for the right to travel to South Africa. Although it was one of the tightest races for the playoff spot in Europe, Denmark managed to steer clear and finish top of the group with a game to spare. The highlight of their qualification probably being a fine 3-2 win in Portugal after trailing 2-1 in injury time.
The Danes landed on the feet in terms of the World Cup draw. They will be confident that they can get out of group E which contains Holland, Japan and the Cameroon.
While there may be a lack of superstar names within the Danish squad, Daniel Agger of Liverpool, Thomas Sorensen of Stoke City and Nicklas Bendtner of Arsenal will be familiar to followers of the English league. Bad news has recently hit the squad however as the experienced Sorensen sustained an injured ligament in his elbow last weekend, meaning that he will be facing a race to be fit for South Africa. This bad news is exacerbated by the fact that there are no experienced goalkeepers to fall back on. Danish supporters will hope that Sorensen will take his place on the plane and help Denmark on a successful World Cup campaign.