NI v Denmark(20/11/2023)

• A 0-0 draw with England and a 1-0 loss to hosts Sweden left Denmark on the verge of elimination from the group, but a 2-1 win over France in Malmo saw them make the semi-finals, where they defeated the Netherlands on penalties before a famous 2-0 victory over Germany in the final. • Although Denmark have failed to reach those heights in the years since, they did make it to the quarter-finals at the 1998 World Cup and the semi-finals at Euro 2020, when England needed extra time to knock them out. • There are 10 Danish players who have been capped by their national team on more than 100 occasions. Regular captain Simon Kjaer overtook the great Peter Schmeichel when he won his 130th cap against San Marino last month. • The joint top scorers for the Denmark national team are Niels Poul ‘Tist’ Nielsen, who scored a remarkable 52 goals in 38 games between 1910 and 1925, and current Blackburn Rovers manager Jon Dahl Tomasson, who accumulated the same number of goals across 112 internationals.

DOMESTIC

• The Danish Superliga is a 12-team competition that runs from July to May each season. • FC Copenhagen are the league’s most successful club, having won the title on 15 occasions, including in each of the previous two campaigns. • The league’s all-time top scorer is Morten ‘Duncan’ Rasmussen, who scored 145 goals across spells with AGF, Brondby, IF, AaB and FC Midtjylland. Rasmussen, who also had a short stint with Celtic, was nicknamed ‘Duncan’ due to his resemblance to the ex-Everton and Rangers striker Duncan Ferguson. • Rasmus Wurtz, who played 452 times for AaB, Copenhagen and Vejle, has made more appearances than anyone else in the Danish Superliga. • Former Northern Ireland goalkeeper Roy Carroll spent two seasons playing in the division with Odense BK. He kept a clean sheet on the same day he signed the deal, and was named the 2009 Superliga Goalkeeper of the Year. • FC Copenhagen have competed in the group phase of the UEFA Champions League in the past two seasons. In the current campaign they have faced Bayern Munich and Manchester United, beating Erik ten Hag’s men 4-3 earlier this month. • FC Copenhagen reached the last 16 of the 2010-11 Champions League and made the quarter-finals of the 2019-20 UEFA Europa League when they were eliminated by Manchester United. • Current managers in the Danish Superliga include ex-Manchester City striker Uwe Rosler, one-time Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers midfielder Per Frandsen and former Aston Villa defender Kent Nielsen.

IRISHFA.COM

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ALL STATISTICS CORRECT PRIOR TO FRIDAY’S MATCH WITH FINLAND