Women’s Euro 2025 Team Previews | Denmark
A potential dark horse in these European Championships is Denmark who have the squad capable of competing, but can they make it out of a difficult Group C?
The Danes are back at yet another major tournament and this time, it’s a tough challenge that awaits given the opposition alongside them in Group C. 2025 has seen some inconsistent form from Denmark and their last international fixture will have brought about a few concerns given the manner of the loss to a team they actually will be up against in their Euros opener.
In making it to the Euros, they automatically qualified out of a group with Spain, Belgium and the Czech Republic. Out of those three teams, they were only beaten by Spain en route to qualification. Denmark even came close to beating the world champions at one point during one of those games before subsequently failing to hold onto that lead.
In the past at the European Championships, Denmark have made multiple appearances at the semi-final stage, but they have only ever made it to the final on one occasion back in 2017. It was there that they were beaten by the hosts Netherlands, and their follow-up run in 2022 was brought to a halt at the group stages. If they fail to make it past the opening point again, then they will have replicated what they did in 2009 with back-to-back group stage exits.
Group C opponents and fixtures:
Sweden | 4th July - 5PM BST
Germany | 8th July - 5PM BST
Poland | 12th July - 8PM BST
When you see the task ahead of them in trying to make it past Group C, then depending on how they actually perform in the tournament, you could actually understand it if they do exit earlier than they probably would like. It is arguably a group of death scenario for Denmark, who will look at Poland as the easier test compared to both Sweden and Germany, who both have been among the best-performing nations on the international stage for a long time.
Squad:
Goalkeepers | Maja Bay Østergaard (Växjö DFF), Kathrine Larsen (Sampdoria), Alberte Vingum (HB Køge)
Defenders | Sanne Troelsgaard (AS Roma), Katrine Veje (Crystal Palace), Frederikke Thørgersen (AS Roma), Stine Ballisager (Fiorentina), Sara Thrige (PSV Eindhoven), Sara Holmgaard (Everton), Isabella Obaze (Portland Thorns), Emma Færge (Fiorentina)
Midfielders | Karen Holmgaard (Everton), Kathrine Kühl (AS Roma), Janni Thomsen (Utah Royals), Emma Snerle (Fiorentina), Josefine Hasbo (Gotham FC), Rikke Marie Madsen (Everton)
Forwards | Pernille Harder (Bayern Munich), Signe Bruun (Real Madrid), Amalie Vangsgaard (Juventus), Sofie Bredgaard (Fiorentina), Cornelia Kramer (Bayer Leverkusen), Nadia Nadim (Hammarby - on loan from AC Milan)
When you see this Denmark squad on paper, you see elements of a team that should be capable of doing good things when you consider some of the quality and talent at the disposal of Andrés Jeglertz. Pernille Harder gets a lot of the plaudits, but Signe Bruun is a player who has proven to be a good goal scorer as well both at club and international level.
Defensively is where the brunt of their experienced internationals are. Sanne Troelsgaard, Katrine Veje and Frederikke Thørgersen continue to be amongst the squad, although out of the three, only Katrine Veje has been more of a starter as of late, with Stine Ballisager and Isabella Obaze being given more opportunities.
Their midfield choices often depend on how they do set up in each game; however they often play with two in central midfield with different wide options to fit whether they want to play with wing-backs or another alternative strategy. They do have a fairly experienced team that works well together and is often set up to be well-organised, but outside of their forward options, the question is whether they have someone capable of that extra element of quality that could influence a game if they need to get a big result.
Player to Watch - Pernille Harder
You could name a couple of players to keep an eye on within this Denmark team, but Pernille Harder is one of the most influential in the squad and has been for a long time now, and as she heads into another major tournament in her career. Her form this season has been as good as ever.
In her second season with Bayern Munich, she scored 14 goals in 22 Frauen Bundesliga games and six goals in eight starts for the German side in this season’s Champions League. Having previously had a lot of injury issues, it has been a good thing to see her thrive this season and play consistently well.
She’s a proven goal scorer who has constantly delivered at the top level and still Denmark can reap the benefits of her quality. When she is at her best, she is a big problem for defences to deal with and Denmark will be counting her to step up once again.
Manager - Andrée Jeglertz
Manchester City fans are bound to have a keen eye on the Swedish coach due to reports linking him with their head coach position. Of course, it has been confirmed that he will be replaced after the Euros by Jakob Michelsen.
He became Denmark’s head coach in 2023 after the Women’s World Cup and his coaching experience is quite extensive, even previously winning the UEFA Women’s Cup back in 2004 with Umeå IK and has previous international history with fellow Scandinavian nation Finland, when he coached them from 2010 to 2016.
He has mainly set up his Denmark team to play with three at the back more often than not, but has proven to be adaptable enough to switch it up to going for four at the back as well if needed. He will want to end his two-year tenure with Denmark on a high, but even he will be aware of the prospect of an early exit if things don’t go well.
How will they do?
It’s between Group C and Group D in terms of the ‘group of death’ tag, but quite frankly they both can take it, and for Denmark it will feel like a bigger challenge than it might possibly do for their Group C counterparts that aren’t Poland.
Having to face Sweden first, their Scandinavian rivals that put six goals past them the last time they faced each other more than two weeks ago probably makes it a bit of a tough ask to back them to actually avoid a loss again. Quite frankly they can’t do much worse than a 6-1 defeat can they? Then, it’s about getting something against an in-form Germany before facing Poland in the last of their group games.
It’s difficult to judge whether Denmark can make it to the knockout stages, because either if it is a scenario where they have failed to beat either of Sweden or Germany, it might just render the Poland game meaningless in the context of progressing through. Or… they get some big results in those opening two and give themselves a chance of maybe even finishing top?