The Best Soccer Players From Denmark
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Vote up the best Danish footballers of all time.
- 1Age: 60Peter Bolesław Schmeichel, MBE (Danish pronunciation: [pʰetɐ ˈsmaɪ̯ˀkl̩]; born 18 November 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper in 1992 and 1993. He is best remembered for his most successful years at English club Manchester United, whom he captained to victory in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final to complete the Treble, and for winning UEFA Euro 1992 with Denmark. Born in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen, Schmeichel was famous for his intimidating physique (at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) tall and weighing close to 100 kg (15 st 10 lb) during his playing days), and wore specially made size XXXL football shirts. A fierce competitor, he was known for his loud, unstinting criticism of mistakes he believed the defenders in front of him committed. Unusually for a goalkeeper, Schmeichel scored 10 goals during his career, including one for the national team. He is also the most capped player for the Denmark national team, with 129 games between 1987 and 2001. In addition to Euro 92, he played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and three additional European Championship tournaments. He captained the national team in 30 matches. He also represented Gladsaxe Hero, Hvidovre, Brøndby, Sporting CP, Aston Villa and Manchester City in a career that lasted from 1981 until 2003 and yielded 24 trophies. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time, the IFFHS ranked Schmeichel among the top ten keepers of the 20th century in 2000, and in 2001, Schmeichel won a public poll held by Reuters, when the majority of the 200,000 participants voted him as the best goalkeeper ever, ahead of Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks. In 2003, Schmeichel was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his impact on the English game. In March 2004, he was named as one of the "125 greatest living footballers", at the FIFA 100 celebrations. His son, Kasper, is also a professional football goalkeeper, currently playing for Premier League side Leicester City and the Danish national team.More Peter Schmeichel
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- 2Age: 59Michael Laudrup (Danish pronunciation: [mikʰæːl ˈlaʊ̯tʁɔp], born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional football coach and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. He is the older brother of fellow retired footballer Brian Laudrup. During his playing career, Laudrup won league titles with Ajax, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, playing mainly as an attacking midfielder, although he was also capable of playing in other offensive positions. A world class playmaker, he was a member of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team" at Barcelona, where he won nine trophies, including four successive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994 and the European Cup in 1992. Laudrup moved to arch-rivals Real Madrid in 1994, with whom he won his fifth La Liga title in a row. Laudrup made his debut for the Denmark national team on his 18th birthday in 1982, and scored 37 goals in 104 appearances. He starred in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and from November 1994, he captained Denmark for a total of 28 matches, including the victorious 1995 Confederations Cup tournament. He played alongside his brother Brian in the Denmark team that reached the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup, and retired as an active player after the tournament. In 1999, Laudrup was voted the Best Foreign Player in Spanish Football over the preceding 25-year period and in April 2000 he was knighted, receiving the Order of the Dannebrog. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Denmark by the Danish Football Association, their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. He was officially named the best Danish footballer of all time by the Danish Football Association (DBU) in November 2006. He was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players at a FIFA awards ceremony in 2004. In April 2013, he was named by Marca in the "Best foreign eleven in Real Madrid's history". He is by some considered the greatest Scandinavian footballer ever, ahead of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimović.After retiring as a player, Laudrup took up coaching, and became assistant manager of the Denmark national team. He got his first manager job at former club Brøndby in 2002, whom he guided to the 2005 Danish Superliga championship. He chose not to extend his contract with Brøndby in May 2006. He took over as coach of Getafe and had notable success there. He brought the club comparative success in the Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup, and the team's attacking style received plaudits. On 15 June 2012, Laudrup was appointed the manager of Premier League club Swansea City on a two-year contract. In his first season in south Wales, he won the League Cup, the first major English trophy in Swansea's 100-year history. On 4 February 2014, he was sacked by Swansea after a "significant" slump in the Premier League, leaving them two points above the relegation zone. Laudrup then managed Qatari clubs Lekhwiya and Al Rayyan between 2014 and 2018.More Michael Laudrup
- #115 of 283 onThe Best Soccer Players Of All Time
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- 3Age: 71Allan Rodenkam Simonsen (born 15 December 1952) is a Danish former footballer and manager. He most prominently played as a forward for German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, winning the 1975 and 1979 UEFA Cups, as well as for Barcelona from Spain, winning the 1982 Cup Winners' Cup. Simonsen is the only footballer to have scored in the European Cup, UEFA Cup, and Cup Winners' Cup finals. Simonsen was named 1977 European Footballer of the Year. For the Denmark national football team, Simonsen was capped 55 times, scoring 20 goals. He represented Denmark at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1984 European Championship and 1986 World Cup tournaments. He was voted into the Danish Football Hall of Fame in November 2008.More Allan Simonsen
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- 4Age: 66Preben Elkjær (born 11 September 1957) is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a striker. Amongst others, he played with Hellas Verona in Italy, helping the club to the only major title of its history, the 1985 Serie A. Additionally, Elkjær scored nearly 40 goals for the Danish national team in 11 years, being a leading figure for the Danish side under coach Sepp Piontek that played at the Euro 1984 and the 1986 World Cup (a first-ever appearance), often hailed as the golden generation of Danish football by their countrymen. Elkjær won the Bronze Ball award at the latter competition. Widely regarded as one of the best forwards of the 1980's, Elkjær finished second in the Ballon d'Or awards in 1985, having been placed third the previous year, and going on to finish fourth in 1986. In Verona he is still remembered, having earned the persisting nickname "Il sindaco" (the mayor) during his stint for the club. Renowned for his goal-scoring abilities and his wit, he remains one of the most popular football personalities in his native Denmark.
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Brian Laudrup
Age: 55Brian Laudrup (Danish pronunciation: [pʁiæn ˈlaʊ̯tʁɔp], born 22 February 1969) is a Danish former footballer who played as a winger, forward or as a midfielder. He currently works as a football commentator, pundit and analyst on Kanal 5 and 6'eren. Along with former international goalkeeper Lars Høgh, Laudrup manages a football academy for marginalised youth.During his short playing career which eventually stalled due to injury, Laudrup represented a number of European clubs. He started with Danish club Brøndby, winning two Danish championships in the late 1980s. He then played for German and Italian clubs, winning the 1993–94 Serie A as well as the 1994 UEFA Champions League title with Milan. He was a vital part of the Rangers team which dominated the Scottish Premier Division in the 1990s, winning three championships, among others. He won the 1998 UEFA Super Cup in his brief stint with English club Chelsea, and had a brief spell with Copenhagen in Denmark, before ending his career with Ajax in 2000. Laudrup also played 82 matches and scored 21 goals for the Denmark national team, and was a vital part of the Danish teams which won UEFA Euro 1992 and the 1995 Confederations Cup. Laudrup won the Danish Football Player of the Year award a record four times. He was named by FIFA as the fifth-best player in the world in 1992 and was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers at the FIFA 100 ceremony in March 2004, alongside his older brother Michael Laudrup.More Brian Laudrup- #50 of 161 onThe Best Soccer Players of the '90s
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- 6Age: 32Christian Dannemann Eriksen (born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and the Denmark national team. He is also capable of playing as a central midfielder or a mezzala. Eriksen made his senior international debut for Denmark in 2010 at age 18, and has since earned over 100 caps, including appearing in five major tournaments; he was also the youngest player at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Eriksen is his country's seventh-highest all-time goalscorer, and was named Danish Football Player of the Year a record five times. At Euro 2020, Eriksen collapsed on the pitch after suffering cardiac arrest; he was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation and was later fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator.More Christian Eriksen
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- 7Age: 67Frank Arnesen (born 30 September 1956) is a former Danish footballer. Arnesen was the Director of Football at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and was Sporting Director at Hamburger SV, Metalist Kharkiv and PAOK FC. He is currently sporting director at R.S.C. AnderlechtAs a player, he most notably played with Dutch clubs Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, winning the 1988 European Cup with PSV. Arnesen was capped 52 times and scored 14 goals for the Danish national team, and participated in the Euro 1984 and 1986 FIFA World Cup tournaments.
- 8Age: 66Søren Lerby (born 1 February 1958) is a Danish former football player, manager, and licensed agent. As a player, he spent most of his career in Dutch football, winning five Eredivisie championships with Ajax Amsterdam and two with PSV Eindhoven. With the latter club, he also won the 1988 European Cup. He won two Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, and played one season for AS Monaco in France. He played 67 matches for the Denmark national football team from 1978 to 1989, and represented Denmark at the 1986 FIFA World Cup and two European Championship tournaments. Currently, he is the agent of Napoli winger Dries Mertens.
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Kasper Schmeichel
Age: 37Kasper Peter Schmeichel (born 5 November 1986) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Nice and the Denmark national team. He is the son of former Denmark international goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel. Schmeichel played seventeen games for Denmark under-21s. He was called up to the Denmark national team for the first time in 2011, and was part of their squad at UEFA Euro 2012, but did not make his senior debut until 2013. He represented his country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2020.More Kasper Schmeichel- #17 of 159 onThe Best Soccer Goalies of All Time
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Andreas Christensen
Age: 28Andreas Bødtker Christensen (born 10 April 1996) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club FC Barcelona and the Denmark national team. Christensen began his career at Skjold Birkerød and later joined Brøndby and joined Chelsea at the age of 15 in February 2012, making his professional debut in October 2014. From 2015 to 2017 he was loaned to Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, where he made 82 appearances and scored 7 goals. Christensen made his full international debut for Denmark in June 2015, and represented the nation at the 2018 World Cup. - 11Age: 39Daniel Munthe Agger (Danish: [tænjəl ˈakɐ]; born 12 December 1984) is a Danish retired professional footballer and tattoo artist who played as a central defender for Brøndby and Liverpool and captained the Denmark national team. Agger was described as "a fine reader of the game, comfortable on the ball and blessed with a ferocious shot". He was the 2007 and 2012 Danish Football Player of the Year. He started his senior career with Brøndby in July 2004, winning the Danish Superliga and the Danish Cup, before moving to Liverpool in January 2006. He made 175 Premier League appearances for the club (232 total) and won the League Cup and Community Shield. Agger returned to Brøndby for personal reasons in August 2014, and retired two years later at the age of 31. A full international since 2005, Agger earned 75 caps and scored 12 goals for Denmark. He represented the nation at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2012, captaining his country at the latter.
- 12Age: 35Simon Thorup Kjær (born 26 March 1989) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Milan and captains the Denmark national team. He was named 2007 Danish under-19 talent of the year and 2009 Danish Talent of the Year. Kjær has played more than 110 matches for Denmark, including participation at the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and 2018, and the UEFA European Championship in 2012 and 2020.
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Flemming Povlsen
Age: 57Flemming Søgaard Povlsen (born 3 December 1966) is a Danish former professional football player who played as a striker for Borussia Dortmund in Germany, among other teams. He currently works as football expert on TV. - 14Age: 74Morten Per Olsen (born 14 August 1949) is a Danish football manager and former football player. He was the head coach of the Danish national team for 15 years from 2000 until 2015, guiding Denmark to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2004 European Championship, 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2012 European Championship. He has also managed Brøndby IF to two Danish Superliga championships and Ajax to the Double of the 1998 Dutch Eredivisie championship and Dutch Cup trophy. He is the only person ever in football to achieve 100 national matches for his country both as player as well as coach. In his active career, Olsen predominantly played as a defensive midfielder and libero. He played professionally in Belgium and Germany, and won the 1983 UEFA Cup and three Belgian First Division championships with R.S.C. Anderlecht. Olsen played a total 102 matches and scored four goals for the Danish national team from 1970 to 1989, and was named 1983 and 1986 Danish Player of the Year. He captained the Danish national team in 50 games during the 1980s, and represented Denmark at the 1984 European Championship, 1986 FIFA World Cup, and 1988 European Championship. Towards the end of his active career, Olsen was characterized as the most important player in the history of Danish football.
- 15Age: 82Harald Ingemann Nielsen (26 October 1941 – 11 August 2015) was a Danish association footballer who played as a striker. He played professionally for Italian club Bologna F.C. where he was the league top scorer (capocannoniere) in Bologna's 1964 Serie A championship winning season. Harald Nielsen played 14 games for the Denmark national football team in 1959 and 1960, scoring 15 goals, and he was known as Guld-Harald (Gold-Harald). He was a football entrepreneur having continuously worked for the professionalization of both the Danish national team and the national league.
- 16Age: 28Pierre-Emile Kordt Højbjerg (born 5 August 1995) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Denmark national team. He played as a youth for BK Skjold, F.C. Copenhagen and Brøndby IF before joining German club Bayern Munich in 2012. He made his senior debut for the reserves that year and his professional debut for the first team in April 2013; at 17 he was the club's youngest player in the Bundesliga. He made 25 total appearances for Bayern and won a variety of domestic and international tournaments, also having loans at fellow league teams FC Augsburg and Schalke 04. In 2016, he signed a five-year contract for Southampton for an estimated £12.8 million fee. After making over 130 appearance for the Saints, he joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2020 for a reported initial fee of £15 million. Formerly a youth international at various levels from under-16 to under-21, he made his debut for the Denmark national football team inMore Pierre Højbjerg
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- 17Age: 60Jan Mølby (born 4 July 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer and manager. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1982 to 1998. After starting his career with Kolding, he moved on to Ajax before spending twelve years playing in England with Liverpool. He was capped 33 times by Denmark, scoring twice. After leaving Liverpool he became player-manager of Swansea City, where he spent two years, and then managed Kidderminster Harriers, guiding them to promotion to the Football League in 2000. He later had a brief spell as manager of Hull City and then a brief spell back in charge of Kidderminster Harriers.
- 18Age: 51Ebbe Sand (born 19 July 1972) is a Danish Director of Football at Brøndby IF who is also a former professional footballer who played as a striker for Brøndby IF in Denmark and FC Schalke 04 in Germany. He was the German Bundesliga top scorer in 2001, and won the DFB-Pokal in 2001 and 2002 with Schalke. On the international stage, he represented the Denmark national football team at the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup, as well as the 2000 and 2004 European Championships. At the 1998 World Cup, he scored the fastest-ever World Cup goal by a substitute – 16 seconds after entering the match. In all, he was selected 66 times for the Danish national team and scored 22 goals, from his debut in 1998 until he decided to focus on playing for Schalke in 2004. When his contract with Schalke ran out in summer 2006, he moved back to Denmark to become head talent scout at Silkeborg IF. At his retirement in 2006, he was granted a testimonial match between the Danish national team and his former Danish club Brøndby IF.
- 19Age: 47Jon Dahl Tomasson (born 29 August 1976) is a Danish football manager and former player who works for the Danish football team as an assistant manager. Tomasson is of Danish, Finnish and Icelandic heritage and was known for his positional strength and fine finishing as a forward, despite his lack of notable pace or physicality. His most notable run of football came in his first stint at Feyenoord, with whom he won the 2002 UEFA Cup, and Italian club Milan, with whom he won the 2003 UEFA Champions League and reached the final in 2005. He was also honoured with the Danish Player of the Year award in both 2002 and 2004.
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Henning Jensen
Age: 74Henning Jensen (17 August 1949 – 4 December 2017) was a Danish football player who played professionally for German club Borussia Mönchengladbach, Spanish club Real Madrid and Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam where he won the domestic league championship in each country. He scored nine goals in 21 games for the Denmark national football team from 1972 to 1980. - 21Age: 44Christian Bjørnshøj Poulsen (born 28 February 1980) is a Danish former footballer. After starting his career with Holbæk, he played for a number of European clubs as a defensive midfielder, winning the Danish Superliga championship with F.C. Copenhagen, the German DFB-Ligapokal trophy with FC Schalke 04, and the European UEFA Cup with Spanish team Sevilla FC, later also playing for Italian Serie A club Juventus, as well as Premier League side, Liverpool, French side Evian, and Dutch side Ajax. He has been a regular member of the Denmark national football team since his debut in 2001, and has played 92 matches, scoring six goals for his country. He represented Denmark at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2004 European Championship international tournaments. Poulsen was named 2001 Danish under-21 Player of the Year, and won the 2005 and 2006 Danish Player of the Year awards; the first to win two years in a row.
- 22Age: 48Thomas Gravesen (born 11 March 1976) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Gravesen played as a professional in Denmark, Germany, England, Spain and Scotland for Vejle Boldklub, Hamburger SV, Everton, Real Madrid and Celtic. For the Denmark national team, Gravesen was capped 66 times and scored five goals, from his debut in August 1998 until he ended his national team career in September 2006. He represented Denmark at the international Euro 2000, 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004 tournaments. He is the older brother of footballer Peter Gravesen.
- 23Age: 63Jesper Olsen (born 20 March 1961) is a Danish former footballer who played for Ajax of the Netherlands and Manchester United of England, among other teams. Olsen was a regular left winger for the Danish national team, scoring five goals in 43 matches. He represented Denmark at the Euro 1984 and 1986 World Cup tournaments.
- 24Age: 52Thomas Lund Helveg (born 24 June 1971) is a former Danish professional footballer who played as a defender for Odense Boldklub in the Danish Superliga, with whom he won the 1989 Danish championship. The most prominent period of his career was five years with Italian club A.C. Milan, with whom he won the 1999 Serie A championship and 2003 UEFA Champions League tournament. Helveg was named 1994 Danish Player of the Year, the year he made his debut for the Denmark national football team. He has played 108 games and scored two goals for Denmark. He has played for Denmark under three different national coaches, and has participated in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 European Championship and the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup tournaments.
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Kim Vilfort
Age: 61Kim Vilfort (born 15 November 1962) is a Danish retired footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the head talent scout at Brøndby IF. His 17-year professional career was mainly associated with Brøndby, for which he played in 470 official games – being the club's top scorer in history – and won ten major titles. Vilfort played for more than one decade with Denmark, and earned 77 caps. He was an essential figure in the nation's Euro 1992 conquest, and represented the country in three European Championships. - 26
Martin Jørgensen
Age: 48Lars Martin Jørgensen (born 6 October 1975), more commonly known as Martin Jørgensen, is a Danish former professional footballer played as a midfielder or defender. He is currently working as talent manager for AGF. Jørgensen amassed 102 caps and scored 12 goals for the Denmark national football team. He is the only player that has represented Denmark at three FIFA World Cups. He has also played at two European Championship tournaments. After Denmark's elimination from the 2010 World Cup, Jørgensen announced his retirement from the national team. As he was close to reach his anniversary match no.100 for the national team, the coach Morten Olsen however decided to call him up for one last farewell match, in November 2010. After a brief retirement, he returned to the national team as he was called up for the Euro 2012 qualifying match against Norway on 6 September 2011.He is the older brother of retired Danish football player Mads Jørgensen. - 27
Thomas Delaney
Age: 32Thomas Joseph Delaney (born 3 September 1991) is a Danish professional footballer, who plays as a defensive midfielder for La Liga club Sevilla and the Denmark national team. - 28Dec. at 65 (1924-1990)John Angelo Valdemar Østergaard Hansen, known simply as John Hansen, (24 June 1924 – 12 January 1990) was a Danish footballer who played as a forward. He played professionally for seven years in Italy: he scored 124 goals in 187 matches for Juventus F.C., and won two Serie A championships with the club, finishing as Capocannoniere top-goal scorer in the 1951–52 Serie A season; he later also played for Italian club S.S. Lazio. He won the 1944 Danish championship with childhood club BK Frem. Hansen scored 10 goals in eight games for the Denmark national football team in 1948, and won a bronze medal with Denmark at the 1948 Summer Olympics. In 1985, Hansen received the Italian order of chivalry.He was the son of Danish international goalkeeper Niels Peder Hansen, who also played for BK Frem, and was the father of Henning Hansen, who played for BK Frem in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
- 29Dec. at 89 (1922-2011)Karl Aage Præst, also spelled Carl Aage Præst, (26 February 1922 – 19 November 2011) was a Danish football player. Playing in the left winger position, Præst won two Serie A championships with Italian club Juventus FC. He played 24 games and scored 17 goals for the Danish national team from 1945 to 1949, and won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He is a Danish Football Hall of Fame inductee.
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Martin Laursen
Age: 46Martin Laursen (born 26 July 1977) is a Danish former footballer who played in the centre-back position. He played three seasons for Italian club A.C. Milan, with whom he won the 2003 UEFA Champions League and the 2004 Serie A championship. He also played for Italian clubs Hellas Verona and Parma FC, and was the team captain of English club Aston Villa. He was most recently the manager of BK Søllerød-Vedbæk. Laursen was capped 53 times and scored two goals for the Denmark national team from 2000 to 2008, and he was named 2008 Danish Football Player of the Year. He represented Denmark at the 2000 European Championship, 2002 FIFA World Cup, and 2004 European Championship tournaments.
