The UEFA European Championship 1992: Denmark Win Against All Odds

History has shown that the European Championships can be full of surprises! Sports writer Kurt Leyland looks back at one of the greatest shocks in Euro history…

Euro 92 shocked the world! Image credits: Knoow.net

The Qualification Process

Danish fans will always look back with immense pride at their team from Euro 1992, but they were not even supposed to compete in the competition.

Back in 1992, there were just eight places available for the European Championships. This made the qualification process much more strenuous and difficult.

Denmark performed well in qualification. In eight games, Denmark won six, drew once and lost once.

However, they were narrowly tipped to the top spot by a strong Yugoslavia team, meaning Denmark missed out on qualification for the European Championships. Or so it seemed…

Political Unrest

On 31 May 1992, amid war in the Balkans and United Nations sanctions, Yugoslavia was kicked out of Euro 92.

They were sent home from Sweden 10 days before the tournament began. They were also banned from the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Many believe that the Yugoslavian team of 1992 would have had a strong chance of winning the whole competition. Their immensely strong side had narrowly missed out on getting to the World Cup semi-final in 1990.

Three years before that, their up-and-coming players had claimed the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Chile. Yugoslavia’s omission from the 1992 tournament will leave many people wondering what might have been.

With Yugoslavia omitted from the competition, a lifeline was handed to the Group 4 runners-up, Denmark. The Danes were given just over a week's notice to get a squad prepared for the European Championships.

Despite their failure to qualify for the World Cup, Denmark had a talented squad and plenty of unity within the team.

10 players from the team had played for Bronby, which had made it to the Semi-Final of the UEFA Cup. They also had a world-class shot-stopper in between the sticks in the form of Peter Schmeichel, one of Denmark’s greatest-ever players.

The Group Stage

The Danes were placed in a difficult group for the tournament. They were drawn to face the hosts Sweden, World Cup semi-finalists England, and a French side with Eric Cantona leading the line.

In Denmark’s opening group game, they faced Graham Taylor’s England. This team were the favourites for the game, having lost just once in two years.

However, the game was a stalemate and a resilient Denmark side were able to subdue England’s attacking quality.

After Denmark’s second game, the odds were firmly stacked against them, as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to hosts Sweden. After this, it was seen as inevitable that Denmark would crash out of the tournament in the group stage.

In the final game of the group stage, Denmark were bottom of the group.

They were a point behind England and France, who had both drawn their opening group games, and three points behind Sweden, who topped the group with four points.

For Denmark to have any chance of qualifying for the finals they had to find a way to beat a French side featuring the likes of Eric Cantona, Laurent Blanc and Didier Deschamps, one of the greatest French footballers of all-time.

Denmark hero Kim Vilvort said:

“We played without nerves because we thought we’d be going home.”

Denmark took an early lead after eight minutes through Henrik Larsson, however, they were pegged back after a goal from the clinical Jean Pierre Papin.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, Denmark restored their advantage with Lars Elstrup’s goal guiding them to the knockout stages of the competition.

The Semi-Final

In the Euro 92 Semi-Final, Denmark were again underdogs as they faced reigning European Champions Holland.

The Oranje were an extremely talented team spearheaded by the likes of Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard, some of Holland’s finest-ever players.

The Danes took the lead early in the game courtesy of a goal from Henrik Larsson. The Dutch responded with an equaliser from Dennis Bergkamp.

Mid-way through the second half, Denmark restored their advantage with a second Henrik Larsson goal and seemed on the verge of reaching the European Championship final.

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Late in the game, Frank Rijkaard forced the game to extra time with an equaliser.

Penalty shootouts are a lottery at any level. However, Denmark went into the shootout knowing they had a great chance of reaching the final. They had one of the best keepers in world football with Peter Schmeichel in between the sticks.

It would be the Dutch hero of Euro ’88, Marco van Basten, who would have the ignominy of being the only player not to convert when his kick was saved by Schmeichel.

In the shootout, Denmark were victorious with a 5-3 victory. In doing so they secured a place in the European Championship final for the first time in their history.

The Final

In the final of the 1992 European Championships, Denmark faced World Cup holders Germany. It was Germany’s first European Championship tournament since their reunification.

The Germans possessed a squad of immense quality with the likes of Jurgen Klinsmann, Karl Heinz Riddle and Stefan Effenberg all playing a key role in Germany’s road to the final.

Denmark were once again huge underdogs heading into the final, but the tournament’s gate crashers continued to defy expectations in the final.

In the opening stages, Schmeichel was tested on several occasions and made a series of good saves.

Denmark took the lead during the first half with an excellent goal from John Jensen from just inside the penalty area. It was a rare goal for the midfielder, instantly entering Danish folklore.

In the second half, after soaking up more German pressure, Denmark struck on the counter-attack, with Kim Villfort doubling the Danish lead.

In doing so, he secured Denmark’s first-ever international honours. This was an extraordinary achievement for Richard Moller Nielsen and his side.

The likes of Peter Schmeichel and Brian Laudrup were placed in the Euro 1992 team of the tournament. Midfielder Henrik Larsson also finished as the joint top scorer and the rest, as they say, is history.

Looking for more? Read The Sporting Blog founder Oli Harris’ experiences of Euro 96 - It’s Coming Home!

Do you remember Euro 92? Tell us all your European Championships stories in the comments!