The 2030 FIFA World Cup in Spain, Portugal & Morocco is only about 46 moons away (depending on your own set of lunar circumstances) and it promises to be a real doozy. World Cup history is a tale resplendent with stories of triumph against the odds, childhood dreams coming true and unsung heroes becoming legends. As well as dumb idiot losers, wanker fuck-ups and teams that are just total bullshit.
But how shall ye learn about these legends, losers and teams that are just total bullshit? Well look no further my wayward friend as I profile all 211 FIFA nations eligible for World Cup qualification. Today, I take a look at Denmark which has qualified for the World Cup six times: 1986, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2018 and 2022.
DENMARK
“You’ve gotta not be in it to win it”
Nickname: De Rød-Hvide (The Red and White)
FIFA Ranking: 21 (September 2026)
Qualified for World Cup Finals: 6 times (1986, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2018, 2022)
Best WC result: Quarter Final (France 98) – lost to Brazil 3-2
FIFA World Cup 2026 result: Failed to qualify – second in Group C behind Scotland, def. North Macedonia 4–0 in the semi-final, then drew 2–2 with Czechia in the final and lost 3–1 on penalties.
WATCH: DENMARK — WHEEL OF NATIONS – FAFO: World Cup 2030 Weekly Wheel of Nations – pt. V – September 3, 2026
Proving the old adage that you’ve got to not be in it to win it, Denmark have remarkably won every single major international tournament that it partipated in after failing to qualify.
In qualification for the 1992 European Championships, Denmark failed to overcome the mighty Yugoslavian team for top spot, thereby miss out on the final 8-team event to be held in Sweden. However, after Yugoslavia was disqualified due to sanctions imposed because of the Bosnian war, Denmark was given Yugoslavia’s place at the event. Stepping in at the eleventh hour, Denmark not only filled out the numbers but managed to blitz its way through the whole tournament and take home the crown, even though it shouldn’t actually have been there.
After its opening match against Italia 90 semi-finalists England finished in a 0-0 stalemate, and despite a subsequent defeat to hosts Sweden, Denmark–which were technically not even there and just a figment of everyone’s imagination– then, needing a win to advance past the group stage, first knocked off Euro 1984 champions France to advance, and then the defending European champions Netherlands in the semi-finals before ultimately defeating defending world champion Germany in the final to incredibly become European Champions. All this for a team that wasn’t actually in it.
While Denmark’s mindblowing Euro 92 miracle is the nation’s greatest ever result in a major international competition, unfortunately for the Danes, this blueprint to success, i.e. not qualifying for an event and then hoping you’re included at the last minute thanks to the team ahead of you getting expelled for war crimes, has not proved effective ever since. In fact, the team has employed a starkly different tactic in World Cup qualifying since then, wherein it has actually successfully qualified for the event six times.
The sheer act of booking its place legitimately at the World Cup has caused Denmark to fail at every attempt. It has however experienced some relative success in the event since it first allowed professionals to compete for the national team in 1971.
Its most notable trip to the tournament came in 1998 where it reached the quarter finals and fell just short against Brazil 3-2, after having previously defeated Saudi Arabia in the group stage, drawing 2-2 with South Africa, narrowly going down to France 2-1 and then routing Nigeria 4-1 in the round of 16. Its effort in the 2018 World Cup was also decent, as the side narrowly missed out on advancing to the quarter finals after a penalty shootout loss to Croatia. Most recently, at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, they finished bottom of Group D with 1 point, scoring just one goal. They drew 0–0 with Tunisia, lost 2–1 to France, then were knocked out by a 1–0 loss to Australia.
Despite these relatively successful journeys to the World Cup, on every occasion, the team were already predestined for failure anyway, and shall forever be so, so long as they continue to qualify legitimately and not get admitted to tournaments at the last second due to other sides’ political sanctioning.
AI: Denmark 1992 remains the only senior men’s continental champion I can find that actually failed to qualify for the tournament, was subsequently admitted as a replacement, and then won the thing.
Last three World Cup Finals
2010: Group stage
2018: Round of 16 — lost to Croatia on penalties
2022: Group stage — finished bottom of the group
Last three World Cup Qualification campaigns
2018: Round of 16 — lost to Croatia on penalties
2022: Group stage — finished bottom of the group
2026: Failed to qualify (Playoff Final – lost to Czechia)
One to watch: That on your first day on the job you you don’t do what Jesper Gronkjaer did
Backing up after its stirring efforts at France 98 where the team reached the quarter finals, only just succumbing to defending world champions Brazil 3-2, Denmark came into qualifying for Euro 2000 with its chest out. However, after a lacklustre start picking up just two points from its first three matches, prior to its crucial home encounter with Italy, Danish coach Morten Olsen finally caved in to the cries of the Danish fans and press and gave much-hyped Ajax sensation Jesper Gronkjaer his long-awaited full international debut. And he didn’t disappoint, that is, he didn’t disappoint if you’re a fan of disastrous but hilarious play that ends up costing a team bigtime.
In the very first minute of the match and with his first touch at the half-way line, Gronkjaer held the ball up for a second and then, without noticing Italian opportunist Filipo Inzaghi sneaking ahead of the last Danish defender, decided to pass the ball all the way back to goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel from a million miles up the field, underhitting the pass horribly and hilariously, gifting a perfect through ball to Inzaghi to latch onto, evade Schmeichel and open the scoring. Classic. The Danes would go on to lose the match 2-1, marking the perfect debut for budding superstar Gronkjaer (if you’re a huge fan of sports comedy shows and hilarious calamities on the football field like I am).
The Highpoint: Quarter finals – 1998 World Cup
At France 98, Denmark managed to not only get out of its group but it tore fan favourite Nigeria apart before then giving Brazil an almighty scare in the quarter finals, taking the lead early against the defending champions by scoring after less than 2 minutes, then toing and froing with the 1994 World Cup winners for the entire match, but ultimately succumbing to a decisive Rivaldo strike that gave Brazil a 3-2 win that slammed the door on–still to this day–its best effort at a World Cup (and best effort until it replaces someone at a World Cup due to war).
A sporting experience you’ve gotta go to that’s uniquely local and awesome (and doable): Sporting experience — Aalborg HÃ¥ndbold at Sparekassen Danmark Arena
Go to a Danish Handball League match in Aalborg: handball is genuinely embedded in Danish sporting life, the arena is compact and properly loud, and unlike some bucket-list football fixture, you can realistically get in and experience it.
One unique natural experience to see/visit/experience: Hike Møns Klint
Walk through the beech forest and down beneath the enormous white chalk cliffs to the Baltic shore, a surprisingly dramatic landscape for a country whose normal topography could comfortably accommodate a billiard tournament.
One town/city that the locals love: Aarhus
Denmark’s second city has students, beaches, harbour swimming, music, excellent food and enough cultural weight to feel like a proper city while remaining small enough that you can basically wander across the bloody thing.
FAFO Favourite Place: Christiania, Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark
Food you’ve gotta have: Stegt flæsk med persillesovs
Crispy pork belly with potatoes and parsley sauce is Denmark’s officially voted national dish: gloriously beige, deeply unfashionable-looking and considerably more representative of traditional Danish home cooking than a plate arranged with tweezers
A drink you’ve gotta smash: Akvavit / snaps: Caraway- or herb-flavoured akvavit, usually knocked back as a snaps alongside food, is woven into Danish Christmas lunches, Easter, birthdays and celebrations, often accompanied by communal singing.
The Wedding Banger — The Unofficial National Anthem: Papirsklip – Kim Larsen
🇩🇰 3 Legends
⚽ Sport — Michael Laudrup: Denmark’s defining footballer, a European champion at club level and the elegant creative centrepiece of the great Danish sides surrounding the 1990s era.
🎵 Music — Lars Ulrich: Copenhagen-born co-founder and drummer of Metallica, giving Denmark a fairly absurd claim on one of the biggest bands in the history of heavy music.
📚 Culture — Hans Christian Andersen: The Odense-born storyteller behind The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling and The Emperor’s New Clothes, whose stories became part of global culture on a scale few Danish figures can touch.
🫠FAFO Favourites
âš½ Sport — Pernille Harder: Denmark captain and one of the country’s greatest footballers, with experience across Danish, German and English football and plenty to say about how the women’s game has changed.
🎵 Music — Trentemøller: Copenhagen producer and composer whose career sits beautifully between electronic music, indie, club culture and Denmark’s international creative identity — much more interesting territory than simply asking somebody about their latest single.
🎥 Culture — Mads Brügger: Journalist, filmmaker and professional poker-of-bears whose documentaries repeatedly use bizarre premises to investigate very serious subjects; potentially an outstanding FAFO conversation because curiosity is basically his operating system.
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