Denmark

Appearances at World Cups

Even if football has been developing in Denmark for long, the national team of this country appeared at world cups only in 1986. The generation of the Laudrups performed for the Danish team thanks to whom this team managed to go through qualifying rounds for the WC. It's surprising that Denmark left its group in three out of four performances in the final part of world cups. And the ¼ finals in 1998 is its best achievement. The Danish team chaired by the same Laudrups lost a match against Brazil, who reached the final in France. Denmark's football players couldn't cope with the group stage the last time, which was the first failure in history of appearance in the tournament.

Åge Hareide got to Russia through play-offs. At the group stage of the qualifying round, Denmark gave the first position to Poland, which had a heavier argument in the person of Lewandowski. The second place allowed Denmark to play play-offs where they had to fight against Ireland. The first match was tough. And Denmark ended the game in a draw thanks to doubtful actions of the referee. But in the return match, Denmark walloped its opponent 5-1 and legally won tickets to Russia.

Head coach and best player

Norwegian Åge Hareide rules the national team of Denmark. This little-known specialist has three victories in three different championships, all are in Scandinavian countries. The champion of Norway, Denmark and Sweden chaired the squad in 2016 and immediately delivered his players to the world cup. Previously, Hareide was the head coach of Norway and was famous for his promise to become a fishing minister in case of failure in football. Hareide also wrote an autobiography that wasn't taken seriously first. As the coach himself remembers, he was waiting for buyers on the day of the release of the book all day long but could see only two people.

Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen is the leader of this national team. The football player's modesty seems to be the only thing that doesn't allow him to become a full-fledged top player in the public eye. Meanwhile, Eriksen is the best forward of the national team of Denmark in the qualification as well as the main scorer among midfielders in the qualification for the WC. Christian is a four-time owner of the title Player of the Year in his country. It was his hat-trick that became decisive in the return play-off match against Ireland.

• Preliminary squad: Schmeichel – Dalsgaard, Kjær, Bjelland, Stryger Larsen– Delaney, Kvist, Eriksen – Sisto, Cornelius, Bendtner.

Base camp and cities

The WC draw placed the national teams of France, Australia and newcomers to the WC from Peru in one group with Denmark. Moreover, Hareide's players will play the first match in Saransk against the Peruvians. Then there will be Australia in Samara. And the decisive battle against France is likely to be in Moscow at Luzhniki Stadium. In this respect, the choice of the base camp during the WC is quite surprising. Anapa is, undoubtedly, a beautiful city with amazing landscapes. But the national team of Denmark won't have any group stage match in the south.