Denmark–Sweden football rivalry

The Denmark–Sweden football rivalry is a highly competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national 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.

Memorable competitive matches

Euro 2004 group match

UEFA Euro 2004 Group C standings after 2 matches Team Pld GF GA Pts Sweden 2 6 1 4 Denmark 2 2 0 4 Italy 2 1 1 2 Bulgaria 2 0 7 0 Final tiebreaker standings SWE DEN ITA GF GA Pts – 2–2 1–1 3 3 2 2–2 – 0–0 2 2 2 1–1 0–0 – 1 1 2

See also: UEFA Euro 2004 – Group C: Denmark vs Sweden

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.^[1]

The Italian side, 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.^[2] However then-Italian manager Giovanni Trapattoni said that he nor the federation would protest against the result. UEFA did not investigate the case.^[3]

Abandoned 2008 Euro qualifier

Main article: UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier fan attack

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

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 1

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.

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[4]	3	3
Olympic tournament[5]	1	0	0	1	2	4
Nordic Championship	49[6]	15	9	25	78	104
Exhibition games[7]	4	1	0	3	7	12
Friendly matches	41	20	7	14	75	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
Place	Pld	Den Wins	Draws	Swe Wins	Den Goals	Swe Goals
In Denmark	46	21	7	18	92	79
In Sweden	52	17	10	25	70	95
Neutral ground	3	0	1	2	4	8
Total	101	38	18	45	166	182

References

Print

• Alsiö, Martin (ed.); Frantz, Alf (ed.), Lindahl, Jimmy (ed.) & Persson, Gunnar (ed.) (2004). 100 år: Svenska fotbollförbundets jubileumsbok 1904–2004, del 2: statistiken. Vällingby: Stroemberg Media Group. ISBN 91-86184-59-8. 
• Glanell, Tomas (ed.); Havik, Göran (ed.), Lindberg, Thomas (ed.), Persson, Gunnar (ed.) & Ågren, Bengt (ed.) (2004). 100 år: Svenska fotbollförbundets jubileumsbok 1904–2004, del 1. Vällingby: Stroemberg Media Group. ISBN 91-86184-59-8. 

Online

• "Landsholdsdatabasen". DBU. http://www.dbu.dk/landshold/landsholdsdatabasen/landsholdsdatabasen.aspx. Retrieved 2007-06-03. 
• "SFS-Bolletinen". Sveriges Fotbollshistoriker och Statistiker. 2007. http://www.bolletinen.se/. Retrieved 2007-06-03. 
• A-LANDSKAMPE – SVERIGE at Haslund.info

Notes

1. ^ Aftonbladet – Sex matcher vi minns (Swedish)
2. ^ "Italy angry at rivals' draw", BBC
3. ^ "Uefa will not investigate", BBC.
4. ^ The match was abandoned at the score 3–3 but Sweden was awarded a 0–3 win by UEFA.
5. ^ Only Olympic matches that are counted as full A internationals.
6. ^ Not including the 1–0 win for Sweden in 2000, which was considered an A international by Sweden, but not by Denmark.
7. ^ 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.