In a tense but cagey affair at the Munich Football Arena, Denmark booked their place in the EURO 2024 Round of 16 after a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Serbia on Tuesday, June 25th.
The result saw the Danes finish second in Group C, while Serbia’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages for the first time in their history were dashed as they ended the group stage with just a single point to their name.
It was a game of missed opportunities, as both sides unsuccessfully struggled to find the breakthrough in a match where the stakes could not have been higher.
Denmark, who reached the semi-finals of the previous European Championships, started brightly, with Christian Eriksen, who became the country’s most capped player of all time on the night, forcing a smart save from Predrag Rajkovic with a long-range effort.
His Manchester United teammate Rasmus Hojlund then missed a golden opportunity to give the Danes the lead, firing high and wide when well-placed in the box, while Wolfsburg’s Jonas Wind also missed the target from a promising position.
The Serbians, who needed a victory to keep their slim qualification hopes alive, struggled to create clear-cut chances in the first half, with Aleksandar Mitrovic’s wayward header the closest they came to troubling Kasper Schmeichel in the Danish goal.
The second half followed a similar pattern, with Denmark looking the more likely to break the deadlock. However, a combination of poor finishing and stubborn Serbian defending ensured the score remained deadlocked.
Serbia did have the ball in the net shortly after the interval, but Luka Jovic’s effort was correctly ruled out for offside, much to the frustration of the Serbian bench.
As the clock ticked down, the tension increased, with both teams knowing that a draw would be enough to see Denmark through. The Serbians threw caution to the wind in the closing stages, sending on a host of attacking substitutes, but they lacked the necessary quality in the final third to find a winner.
In the end, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s tame effort in stoppage time, which was comfortably saved by Schmeichel, summed up Serbia’s toothless display, and they were left to rue their missed opportunities throughout the group stage.
For Denmark, the result may not have been the most convincing, but Kasper Hjulmand’s side will be satisfied with their ability to grind out the result they needed to secure their place in the knockout rounds.
After a hat-trick of draws in the group stage, the Danes will now turn their attention to the Round of 16, where they will face hosts Germany on Saturday, 29th June, in what promises to be a tight clash.
