Denmark national football team records and statistics

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

Midfielder Christian Eriksen has made the most appearances for the national team with 144 matches since his debut in 2010.

Main article: List of Denmark international footballers

As of match played 10 June 2025^[1]

Rank	Player	Career	Caps	Goals
1	Christian Eriksen	2010–present	144	46
2	Simon Kjær	2009–2024	132	5
3	Peter Schmeichel*	1987–2001	129	1
4	Dennis Rommedahl	2000–2013	126	21
5	Kasper Schmeichel	2013–present	114	0
6	Jon Dahl Tomasson	1997–2010	112	52
7	Thomas Helveg	1994–2007	108	2
8	Michael Laudrup	1982–1998	104	37
9	Morten Olsen	1970–1989	102	4
	Martin Jørgensen	1998–2011		12
11	Thomas Sørensen	1997–2012	101	0
12	Christian Poulsen	2001–2012	92	6
13	Pierre-Emile Højbjerg	2014–present	88	11
14	John Sivebæk*	1982–1992	87	1
15	Yussuf Poulsen	2014–present	86	14
	Jan Heintze	1987–2002		4
17	Lars Olsen*	1986–1996	84	4
18	Brian Laudrup*	1987–1998	82	21
19	Lars Jacobsen	2006–2015	81	1
	Nicklas Bendtner	2006–2018		30
	William Kvist	2007–2018		2
	Thomas Delaney	2013–2024		8
23	Jesper Grønkjær	1999–2010	80	5
24	Kim Vilfort*	1983–1996	77	14
25	Per Røntved	1970–1982	75	11
	Daniel Agger	2005–2016		12

* denotes winners of the 1992 European Championship.

Goalscorers

Top goalscorers

Forward Preben Elkjær averaged the most goals in the modern era, scoring at least one goal every other match.

As of match played 10 June 2025

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]

#	Player	Pos.	Career	Goals	Caps	Avg.
1	Poul "Tist" Nielsen (list)	FW	1910–1925	52	38	1.368
	Jon Dahl Tomasson	FW	1997–2010	52	112	0.464
3	Pauli Jørgensen	FW	1925–1939	44	47	0.936
	Christian Eriksen	MF	2010–present	46	144	0.319
5	Ole Madsen	FW	1958–1969	42	50	0.84
6	Preben Elkjær	FW	1977–1988	38	69	0.551
7	Michael Laudrup	MF	1982–1998	37	104	0.356
8	Nicklas Bendtner	FW	2006–2017	30	81	0.37
9	Henning Enoksen	FW	1958–1966	29	54	0.537
10	Michael Rohde	FW	1915–1931	22	40	0.55
	Ebbe Sand	FW	1998–2004	22	66	0.333
12	Flemming Povlsen*	FW	1987–1994	21	62	0.339
	Brian Laudrup*	FW	1987–1998	21	82	0.256
	Dennis Rommedahl	FW	2000–2013	21	126	0.167
15	Allan Simonsen	FW	1972–1986	20	55	0.364
16	Jens Peter Hansen	FW	1949–1961	18	38	0.474
17	Karl Aage Hansen	FW	1943–1948	17	22	0.773
	Karl Aage Præst	FW	1945–1949	17	24	0.708
	Poul Pedersen	FW	1953–1964	17	50	0.34
20	Harald Nielsen	FW	1959–1960	15	14	1.071
	Kaj Uldaler	FW	1927–1939	15	38	0.395
22	Frank Arnesen	MF	1977–1987	14	52	0.269
	Kim Vilfort*	MF	1983–1996	14	77	0.182
	Yussuf Poulsen	FW	2014–present	14	86	0.163
25	Lars Elstrup*	FW	1988–1993	13	34	0.382
26	Kaj Hansen	FW	1936–1946	12	27	0.444
	Daniel Agger	DF	2005–2016	12	75	0.16
	Martin Jørgensen	MF	1998–2011	12	102	0.118
29	Søren Larsen	FW	2005–2010	11	20	0.55
	Aage Rou Jensen	FW	1945–1957	11	30	0.367
	Kristen Nygaard	FW	1970–1979	11	36	0.306
	Joakim Mæhle	DF	2020–present	11	52	0.212
	Kasper Dolberg	FW	2016–present	11	55	0.2
	Per Røntved	DF	1970–1982	11	75	0.147
	Pierre-Emile Højbjerg	MF	2014–present	11	88	0.125
36	Lars Bastrup	FW	1975–1983	10	30	0.333
	Helmuth Søbirk	FW	1935–1945	10	30	0.333
	Henry Hansen	FW	1922–1934	10	38	0.263
	Knud Lundberg	FW	1943–1956	10	39	0.256
	Søren Lerby	MF	1978–1989	10	67	0.149
	Martin Braithwaite	FW	2013–present	10	69	0.145

* denotes winners of 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

As of 29 June 2024

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	2016–2024	67 (132)	50.8%
3	Morten Olsen	1980–1989	50 (102)	49%
4	Per Røntved	1972–1982	38 (75)	50.7%
5	Jon Dahl Tomasson	2004–2010	36 (112)	32.1%
6	Daniel Agger	2010–2016	34 (75)	45.3%
7	Peter Schmeichel*	1996–2001	30 (129)	23.3%
8	Ole Madsen	1962–1969	28 (51)	54.9%
	Michael Laudrup	1994–1998	28 (104)	25.7%
10	Knud Lundberg	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 23 March 2025

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	Christian Poulsen	2001–2012	92	11
	Simon Kjær	2009–2024	132	11
6	Stig Tøfting	1993–2002	41	10
	Pierre-Emile Højbjerg	2014–present	86	10
8	John Jensen*	1986–1995	69	9
	Søren Lerby	1978–1989	67	9
	Peter Schmeichel*	1987–2001	129	9
	Daniel Jensen	2002–2010	52	9
	William Kvist	2007–2018	81	9
	Joachim Andersen	2019–present	41	9

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

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

Managers

As of 18 November 2024

The management statistics are:

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

Manager	Years	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	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	1987–1988 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)[a]	2018	1	0	0	1	0	3	0.0%
Kasper Hjulmand	2020–2024	55	33	8	14	102	46	60.0%
Lars Knudsen (caretaker)	2024	4	2	1	1	6	3	50.0%
Brian Riemer	2024–Present	2	0	1	1	1	2	0.0%
Managers total	1908–present	743	354	162	227	1,315	884	47.6%
no manager	various	169	73	25	71	366	331	43.2%
Grand total	1908–present	914	428	187	299	1,683	1,218	46.83%

1. Caretaker manager for Denmark's replacement squad in a friendly match against Slovakia.

Matches

Main article: 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 7 June 2025.

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
1950s	72	25	14	33	138	163	−25	35%	19%	46%	1.24
1960s	91	40	13	38	195	160	+35	44%	14%	42%	1.46
1970s	97	35	19	43	140	152	−12	36%	20%	44%	1.28
1980s	115	56	22	37	187	119	+68	49%	19%	32%	1.65
1990s	102	52	27	23	140	83	+57	51%	26%	23%	1.79
2000s	109	54	30	25	171	98	+73	50%	28%	23%	1.76
2010s	106	46	30	30	167	113	+54	44%	28%	28%	1.58
2020s	64	37	10	17	107	50	+57	58%	16%	27%	1.73
Total	917	430	187	300	1,688	1,224	+464	47%	20%	33%	1.40

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. ^ 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).