Denmark national football team records and statistics explained

The Denmark national football team statistics show the accomplishments of the players and coaches of the Danish men's ever since the controlling organ of the team, the Danish Football Association (DBU), started registering official games at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Key

Bold	Currently available for selection. Correct as of 29 June 2024.
Pos	Positions
GK	Goalkeeper
DF	Defender
MF	Midfielder
FW	Forward

Most appearances

See main article: article and List of Denmark international footballers. The 25 most capped players for Denmark^[1] are:

Rank	Player	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Christian Eriksen	2010–present	134	42
2	Simon Kjær	2009–present	132	5
3	Peter Schmeichel	1987–2001	121	1
4		2000–2013	126	21
5		1997–2010	112	52
6		1994–2007	108	2
7	Kasper Schmeichel	2013–present	105	0
8		1982–1998	104	37
9		1970–1989	102	4
		1998–2011		12
11		1997–2012	101	0
12		2001–2012	92	6
13	John Sivebæk	1982–1992	87	1
14		1987–2002	86	4
15	Lars Olsen	1986–1996	84	4
16	Yussuf Poulsen	2014–present	83	13
17	Brian Laudrup	1987–1998	82	21
18		2006–2018	81	30
		2006–2015		1
		2007–2018		2
	Thomas Delaney	2013–present		8
	Pierre-Emile Højbjerg	2014–present		10
23		1999–2010	80	5
24	Kim Vilfort	1983–1996	77	14
25		1970–1982	75	11
		2005–2016		12

• denotes members of the team that won the 1992 European Championship.

Goalscorers

Top goalscorers

With 52 goals each, Poul "Tist" Nielsen and Jon Dahl Tomasson currently share the record for top goalscorer in Danish football history. The players with 10 goals or more for Denmark are:^[2]

Rank	Player		Career	Goals	Caps
1	Poul "Tist" Nielsen (list)		1910–1925	52	38
			1997–2010	52	112
3			1925–1939	44	47
4			1958–1969	42	50
	Christian Eriksen		2010–present	42	134
6			1977–1988	38	69
7			1982–1998	37	104
8			2006–2017	30	81
9			1958–1966	29	54
10			1915–1931	22	40
			1998–2004	22	66
12	Flemming Povlsen		1987–1994	21	62
	Brian Laudrup		1987–1998	21	82
			2000–2013	21	126
15			1972–1986	20	55
16			1949–1961	18	38
17			1943–1948	17	22
			1945–1949	17	24
			1953–1964	17	50
20			1959–1960	15	14
			1927–1939	15	38
22			1977–1987	14	52
	Kim Vilfort		1983–1996	14	77
24	Lars Elstrup		1988–1993	13	34
	Yussuf Poulsen		2014–present	13	83
26			1936–1946	12	27
			2005–2016	12	75
			1998–2011	12	102
29			2005–2010	11	20
			1945–1957	11	30
			1970–1979	11	36
	Kasper Dolberg		2016–present	11	49
	Joakim Mæhle		2020–present	11	49
			1970–1982	11	75
35			1975–1983	10	30
			1935–1945	10	30
			1922–1934	10	38
			1943–1956	10	39
			1978–1989	10	67
	Martin Braithwaite		2013–present	10	69
	Pierre-Emile Højbjerg		2014–present	10	81

• denotes members of the team that won the 1992 European Championship.

Highest goal average

Only people with at least five goals have been included.

Rank	Player	Career	Goals/cap	Goals	Caps
1	Poul "Tist" Nielsen	1910–1925	1.37	52	38
2	Erik Dyreborg	1967	1.33	8	6
3	John Hansen	1948	1.25	10	8
4	Kaj Christiansen	1943–1948	1.20	6	5
	Iver Schriver	1971	1.20	6	5
6	Harald Nielsen	1959–1960	1.07	15	14
7	Pauli Jørgensen	1925–1939	0.94	44	47
8	Anthon Olsen	1912–1927	0.88	14	16
9	Ole Madsen	1958–1969	0.84	42	50
10	Sophus "Krølben" Nielsen	1908–1919	0.80	16	20

Team captains

The ten players with the most caps as Danish team captains are:

Rank	Player	Captain years	Caps (total)	Percentage
1	Lars Olsen	1987–1994	69 (84)	82.1%
2	Simon Kjær	2016–present	67 (132)	50.8%
3		1980–1989	50 (102)	49%
4		1972–1982	38 (75)	50.7%
5		2004–2010	36 (112)	32.1%
6		2010–2016	34 (75)	45.3%
7	Peter Schmeichel	1996–2001	30 (129)	23.3%
8		1962–1969	28 (51)	54.9%
		1994–1998	28 (104)	25.7%
10		1947–1956	27 (39)	69.2%

Players still playing or available for selection are in bold. * denotes members of the 1992 European Championship-winning team.

Cards

As of 29 March 2015, the caution and sending-off statistics are:

Cautions

Rank	Player	Career	Caps	Cautions
1	Thomas Helveg	1994–2008	108	15
	Thomas Gravesen	1998–2006	66	15
3	Preben Elkjær	1977–1988	69	12
4	Stig Tøfting	1993–2002	41	10
	Christian Poulsen	2001–2012	92	10
6	John Jensen	1986–1995	69	9
	Søren Lerby	1978–1989	67	9
	Peter Schmeichel	1987–2001	129	9
	Daniel Jensen	2002–2010	52	9
10	Jes Høgh	1991–2000	57	7
	Jon Dahl Tomasson	1997–2010	112	7

Players still playing or available for selection are in bold. * denotes members of the 1992 European Championship-winning team.

Sending-offs

Rank	Player	Career	Caps	Sending-offs
1	Morten Wieghorst	1994–2004	30	2
2	Frank Arnesen	1977–1987	52	1
	Klaus Berggreen	1979–1988	46	1
	Per Frandsen	1990–2003	23	1
	Thomas Gravesen	1998–2003	66	1
	Miklos Molnar	1990–2000	18	1
	Torben Nielsen	1969–1972	26	1
	Ernst Nilsson	1920–1937	40	1
	Niclas Jensen	1998–2008	62	1
	Per Røntved	1970–1982	75	1
	Jesper Grønkjær	1999–2010	80	1
	Christian Poulsen	2001–2012	92	1

Players still playing or available for selection are in bold. * denotes members of the 1992 European Championship-winning team.

Managers

The management statistics are:

Note that the Denmark national football team has not had a designated team manager for every match.

Manager	Years							Win %
Charles Williams	1908–1910	4	3	0	1	28	4	75.0%
Axel Andersen Byrval	1913–1915 1917–1918	16	14	1	1	68	12	87.5%
Jack Carr (caretaker)	1920	1	0	0	1	0	1	0.0%
Edward Magner (caretaker)	1939	2	2	0	0	11	3	100.0%
Sophus Nielsen (caretaker)	1940	2	0	2	0	4	4	0.0%
J.D. Butler (caretaker)	1946	2	1	0	1	4	3	50.0%
Axel Bjerregaard & Ove Bøje (caretakers)	1948	3	2	0	1	12	2	66.7%
Robert Mountford (caretaker)	1948	4	3	0	1	15	11	75.0%
Axel Bjerregaard (caretaker)	1952	3	2	0	1	7	6	66.7%
Alf Young (caretaker)	1956	1	0	0	1	1	2	0.0%
Lajos Szendrödi (caretaker)	1956	1	0	1	0	1	1	0.0%
Arne Sørensen	1956–1961	41	20	8	13	94	78	48.8%
Poul Petersen	1962–1966	47	17	8	22	85	94	36.2%
Erik Hansen & Ernst Netuka (caretaker)	1967	8	4	2	2	29	11	50.0%
Erik Hansen & Henry From (caretaker)	1968–1969	11	4	1	6	21	17	36.4%
John Hansen & Henry From (caretaker)	1969	9	5	1	3	20	12	55.6%
Rudi Strittich	1970–1975	61	20	11	30	80	102	32.8%
Kurt "Nikkelaj" Nielsen	1976–1979	31	13	6	12	55	45	41.9%
Sepp Piontek	1979–1990	115	52	24	39	167	123	45.2%
Richard Møller Nielsen	1990–1996	73	40	18	15	116	55	54.8%
Bo Johansson	1996–2000	40	17	9	14	51	43	42.5%
Morten Olsen	2000–2015	166	80	42	44	258	178	48.2%
Åge Hareide	2016–2020	42	21	18	3	81	26	50.0%
John Jensen (caretaker)	2018	1	0	0	1	0	3	0.0%
	2020–2024	55	33	8	14	102	46	60.0%
Managers total	1908–present	737	352	160	225	1,308	879	47.8%
no manager	various	169	73	25	71	366	331	43.2%
Grand total	1908–present	908	426	185	297	1,676	1,213	46.9%

Matches

See main article: article and Denmark national football team results. Note that Average points per game is calculated by using 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. Up to date as of 29 June 2024.

Decade	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Diff	%Won	%Drawn	%Lost	Average Points per match
1900s	3	2	0	1	26	3	+23	67%	0%	33%	2.00
1910s	30	23	1	6	108	33	+75	77%	3%	20%	2.33
1920s	40	17	9	14	75	61	+14	43%	23%	35%	1.50
1930s	46	21	5	20	119	99	+20	46%	11%	43%	1.48
1940s	42	21	7	14	105	76	+29	50%	17%	33%	1.67
	72	25	14	33	138	163	−25	35%	19%	46%	1.24
	91	40	13	38	195	160	+35	44%	14%	42%	1.46
	97	35	19	43	140	152	−12	36%	20%	44%	1.28
	115	56	22	37	187	119	+68	49%	19%	32%	1.65
	102	52	27	23	140	83	+57	51%	26%	23%	1.79
	109	54	30	25	171	98	+73	50%	28%	23%	1.76
	106	46	30	30	167	113	+54	44%	28%	28%	1.58
	55	33	8	14	102	44	+58	60%	15%	25%	1.95
Total	908	426	185	297	1,673	1,216	+457	47%	20%	33%	1.61

Footnotes

1. GF = Goals for
2. GA = Goals against
3. Richard Møller Nielsen coached 8 games in the 1988 Summer Olympics qualifications campaign, winning 6, drawing 1 and losing 1, with the combined score 25–3.
4. http://www.dbu.dk/landshold/landsholdsdatabasen/LBaseCoachInfo.aspx?coachid=4118&teamtypeid=330&genderid=1 Last updated 30 June 2014.
5. In all 169 matches, played through 1911-12 (5 matches), 1916 (4), 1919-20 (6), 1920-38 (77), 1939 (4), 1940-45 (12), 1946-47 (10), 1948-52 (24), 1952-56 (24), 1957 (1), 1959 (1) and 1961 (1).

External links

• Landsholdsspillere med mere end 50 kampe at Danish Football Association
• Palle "Banks" Jørgensen, "Landsholdets 681 profiler fra 1908 til i dag", TIPS-Bladet, 2002,
• Peders Fodboldstatistik
• Haslunds fodboldsider

Notes and References

1. Web site: Flest kampe. DBU. 20 November 2019. Danish.
2. Web site: DBU . Flest mål . 7 September 2023 . DBU . DA.