Denmark–Sweden football rivalry
The Denmark–Sweden football rivalry is a highly competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national men's football teams of Denmark and Sweden. The clashes between the two neighbouring countries has since the very first match in 1913 attracted large crowds that have witnessed several spectacular games and controversial incidents, despite the fact that the two teams very seldom have met in any of the larger international football tournaments. Sweden leads the series 45–18–40.
Memorable competitive matches
Euro 1992 group match
Hosting the 1992 European Championships, Sweden was playing in only its second ever game in the tournament's history when they faced Denmark at Rasunda Stadium in Solna. A goal from Tomas Brolin was enough to give Sweden its first ever EURO victory with a 1–0 win over Denmark. Sweden would finish ahead of eventual winners Denmark in the group.[1]
Euro 2004 group match
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In the group stage of the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament, the two teams met each other for the first competitive game since the UEFA Euro 1992 group stage, and the first rivalry game since April 2000.
Prior to the game on June 22, 2004, the group C standings were as shown in the table to the right. Simultaneously with the game, Italy faced Bulgaria. With a win, Italy would advance from the group stage, unless Denmark and Sweden drew their game, causing all three teams to end with five points. The tiebreaker would then be the match results between the tied teams, and with Sweden playing 1–1 and Denmark 0–0 with Italy, a Denmark-Sweden draw of 2–2 or higher would leave Italy with one goal from the tied matches, and send both Sweden and Denmark through to the quarter finals, regardless of the Italian side's efforts.
After a 28th-minute-opener by Jon Dahl Tomasson, Henrik Larsson equalised on a penalty shortly after the break. Tomasson brought Denmark one up again in the 66th minute, but just minutes before the final whistle Mattias Jonson equalised for Sweden to make up the final score of 2–2.[2]
The Italians, meanwhile, had beaten Bulgaria by 2–1 on a goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time, which would have otherwise sent them through. This caused an uproar within the Italian team, with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and Italian football federation president Franco Carraro both accusing the Danish and Swedish team of match fixing.[3] However then-Italian manager Giovanni Trapattoni said that he nor the federation would protest against the result. UEFA did not investigate the case.[4]
Abandoned 2008 Euro qualifier
The next rivalry games came in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualification group games. The first game was played on 2 June 2007, and started out with the Swedish side going three goals up after two goals from Johan Elmander and one from Petter Hansson in the first half-hour of the game. However, through goals by Daniel Agger, Jon Dahl Tomasson, and Leon Andreasen, Denmark completed a remarkable comeback.
In the 89th minute, Denmark's Christian Poulsen hit Markus Rosenberg in the stomach, prompting German referee Herbert Fandel to send him off and award Sweden a penalty kick. Before the penalty kick could be executed, a Danish supporter ran unto the pitch and attempted to punch Fandel, but was stopped by Denmark's Michael Gravgaard. Fandel abandoned the match, Sweden was awarded the match as a 3–0 win, and Denmark was sentenced to play its next two qualifying matches at least 140 km away from Copenhagen. The two teams met for the re-match on 8 September 2007 in Stockholm, which ended in a 0–0 draw. Sweden eventually qualified for the UEFA Euro 2008, while Denmark finished fourth in the group and was eliminated.
2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
The two teams were once more drawn in the same group for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. On 6 June 2009, Denmark defeated Sweden 1–0 in Solna, the first victory for Denmark over Sweden since 1996. Sweden's Kim Källström was given a penalty early in the game, but Thomas Sørensen saved the shot. Denmark's Thomas Kahlenberg scored the only goal in the 22nd minute after a defensive mistake by Mikael Nilsson.
The 10 October 2009 re-match was the first rivalry game at Parken Stadium since the controversial fan attack incident. During the game, Sweden had two goals correctly annulled for offside, before Denmark's Jakob Poulsen scored the only goal in the 78th minute. Denmark won the game 1–0, and secured Danish qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, while Sweden eventually finished third and were eliminated.
Comparison of Denmark and Sweden in major international tournaments
| Tournament |  Denmark |
 Sweden |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 World Cup | DNP | DNP | |
| 1934 World Cup | DNP | 9–16 | |
| 1938 World Cup | DNP | 4 | |
| 1950 World Cup | DNP | 3 | |
| 1954 World Cup | DNP | FTQ | |
| 1958 World Cup | FTQ | 2 | |
| 1960 Euros | DNP | DNP | |
| 1962 World Cup | DNP | FTQ | |
| 1964 Euros | 4 | FTQ | |
| 1966 World Cup | FTQ | FTQ | |
| 1968 Euros | FTQ | FTQ | |
| 1970 World Cup | FTQ | 9–16 | |
| 1972 Euros | FTQ | FTQ | |
| 1974 World Cup | FTQ | 5–8 | |
| 1976 Euros | FTQ | FTQ | |
| 1978 World Cup | FTQ | 9–16 | |
| 1980 Euros | FTQ | FTQ | |
| 1982 World Cup | FTQ | FTQ | |
| 1984 Euros | 4 | FTQ | |
| 1986 World Cup | 9–16 | FTQ | |
| 1988 Euros | 5–8 | FTQ | |
| 1990 World Cup | FTQ | 17–24 | |
| 1992 Euros | 1 | 4 | Denmark and Sweden were placed in the same finals group, Sweden won 1–0. |
| 1994 World Cup | FTQ | 3 | |
| 1996 Euros | 9–16 | FTQ | |
| 1998 World Cup | 5–8 | FTQ | |
| 2000 Euros | 9–16 | 9–16 | |
| 2002 World Cup | 9–16 | 9–16 | |
| 2004 Euros | 5–8 | 5–8 | Denmark and Sweden were placed in the same finals group. The teams drew 2–2 and both progressed to the knockout round. |
| 2006 World Cup | FTQ | 9–16 | |
| 2008 Euros | FTQ | 9–16 | Denmark and Sweden were placed in the same qualifying group. The match in Denmark was abandoned at 3–3 after a Danish fan attacked the referee, which threw the result 3–0 to Sweden. The teams drew 0–0 in the reverse fixture. |
| 2010 World Cup | 17–32 | FTQ | |
| 2012 Euros | 9–16 | 9–16 | |
| 2014 World Cup | FTQ | FTQ | |
| 2016 Euros | FTQ | TBA | Denmark and Sweden were placed in the same match in the playoffs. Sweden defeated Denmark 4–3 on aggregate. |
Statistics
| Tournament | Pld | Den Wins | Draws | Swe Wins | Den Goals | Swe Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Cup | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| World Cup qualifying | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| European Championship | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| European Championship qualifying | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1[5] | 3 | 3 |
| Olympic tournament[6] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Nordic Championship | 49[7] | 15 | 9 | 25 | 78 | 104 |
| Exhibition games[8] | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 12 |
| Friendly matches | 42 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 76 | 56 |
| Decade | Pld | Den Wins | Draws | Swe Wins | Den Goals | Swe Goals |
| 1910s | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 35 | 10 |
| 1920s | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 10 |
| 1930s | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 24 | 24 |
| 1940s | 17 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 30 | 45 |
| 1950s | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 35 |
| 1960s | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 18 | 35 |
| 1970s | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 16 |
| 1980s | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 |
| 1990s | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 2000s | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| 2010s | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Place | Pld | Den Wins | Draws | Swe Wins | Den Goals | Swe Goals |
| In Denmark | 48 | 23 | 7 | 18 | 95 | 79 |
| In Sweden | 52 | 17 | 10 | 25 | 70 | 95 |
| Neutral ground | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Total | 103 | 40 | 18 | 45 | 169 | 182 |
References
- Alsiö, Martin; Frantz, Alf; Lindahl, Jimmy; et al., eds. (2004). 100 år: Svenska fotbollförbundets jubileumsbok 1904–2004, del 2: statistiken. Vällingby: Stroemberg Media Group. ISBN 91-86184-59-8.
- Glanell, Tomas; Havik, Göran; Lindberg, Thomas; Persson, Gunnar; Ågren, Bengt, eds. (2004). 100 år: Svenska fotbollförbundets jubileumsbok 1904–2004, del 1. Vällingby: Stroemberg Media Group. ISBN 91-86184-59-8.
- Online
- "Landsholdsdatabasen". DBU. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
- "SFS-Bolletinen". Sveriges Fotbollshistoriker och Statistiker. 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-03.
- A-LANDSKAMPE – SVERIGE at Haslund.info
Notes
- ↑ http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=1992/matches/round=219/match=5090/postmatch/report/index.html#brolin+dents+danish+dreams
- ↑ Aftonbladet – Sex matcher vi minns (Swedish)
- ↑ "Italy angry at rivals' draw", BBC
- ↑ "Uefa will not investigate", BBC.
- ↑ The match was abandoned at the score 3–3 but Sweden was awarded a 0–3 win by UEFA.
- ↑ Only Olympic matches that are counted as full A internationals.
- ↑ Not including the 1–0 win for Sweden in 2000, which was considered an A international by Sweden, but not by Denmark.
- ↑ FBF 40-year anniversary tournament game in June 1947. NFF 50-year anniversary tournament game in June 1952. DBU 100-year anniversary tournament game in June 1989. SFF's "Scania 100" exhibition tournament game in June 1991.
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