Denmark won 9 out of 10 matches on their way to qualifying for the World Cup. In the process, Kasper Hjulmand’s team scored 30 goals while only giving up three times, including 5-0 and 8-0 home wins over Israel and Moldova, respectively, as well as a 4-0 victory in Austria. The Danes will therefore enter the World Cup with the expectation of winning Group D, which also includes the holders France, whom they recently defeated at home and away in the Uefa Nations League, Tunisia, and Australia. The Scandinavians could be significant contenders this winter, as seen by their recent spectacular triumphs over the world champions, and they expect to at least match their previous best performance at the competition—a quarterfinal berth in France in 1998.
World champions France and Denmark will square off in Group D for the third time in the history of the competition; they also played each other this year in the UEFA Nations League. This will be the third group-stage meeting between the two teams. But anyone who thinks Kasper Hjulmand and company wouldn’t enjoy such a scenario is mistaken, especially given that the Danes have defeated Les Bleus in both of their most recent meetings, as well as when they defeated the then-champions in the 2002 World Cup group stage.
In fact, France may be said to have a “bogey team” in Denmark because they were shut out by them in the most recent tournament as well, and the Scandinavians’ best-ever World Cup result came in 1998 when they advanced to the round of eight. If Denmark can defeat Didier Deschamps’ squad once more on November 26 in Doha, they will be well on their way to the knockout stages. And if their underwhelming performance at Euro 2020, when they unluckily lost 2-1 to England in extra time in the semifinals, is any indication, they could be difficult to stop from there.
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