The Danes seal qualification with a draw in their final Group C game at Euro 2024, while their opponents are out. Check out the best facts, stats and live Opta data with our Denmark vs Serbia stats page.
Euro 2024’s Group C is thankfully over with Denmark going through to the last 16 in second place after Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Serbia saw them pip Slovenia due to a better disciplinary record.
In many respects, such a tiebreaker being necessary is a fairly fitting end to a section that won’t live long in the memory for anyone – perhaps bar Slovenia, whose progress as one of the best third-place teams is a historic achievement.
Serbia went into the game in Munich with more than a fighting chance of progress, knowing a victory could even see them top the group. But their efforts weren’t enough against a Danish defence that dealt with everything the Serbians hurled at them.
It wasn’t just this game in which Serbia disappointed, though. Expectations pre-tournament may not have been high, but they ultimately finish bottom of Group C having managed just six shots on target over three games, their lowest figure as an independent nation at a major tournament.
The outcome wasn’t especially shocking, though.
During a first half of generally low quality, it was difficult to make much of a case for either side deserving a place in the last 16 – the same could probably be said of the other two teams in Group C as well.
This game did eventually liven up a little, but it took a while to get going. After all, viewers had to wait 15 minutes and 40 seconds before the first shot to arrive as Alexander Bah headed a good chance off target – that was the longest wait for the first shot in a Euro 2024 match so far.
Few would’ve been that surprised, however. Group C had been the lowest-scoring group before Tuesday’s matches and there were precious few opportunities at either end in the first half.
Serbia’s solitary shot equated to just 0.06 expected goals (xG) and ensured they accumulated only two first-half shots on target across their three Group C matches, the joint fewest of any side in the tournament.
Denmark did at least offer a bit more attacking purpose, their 30 final-third entries double that of Serbia before the interval and Bah’s opportunity might have yielded a goal on any other day. But even then, service to the front wasn’t great, and in Strahinja Pavlovic, Serbia had a centre-back putting in a strong showing as he won all five of his duels in the first 45.
It was just a matter of time until Serbia turned to Dusan Tadic in an attempt to try something different. For a split early in the second half, it looked as though he’d provided the answer, slicing open the Denmark defence to feed fellow half-time substitute Luka Jovic, but he strayed agonisingly offside prior to seeing his wayward shot knocked into the net by Joachim Andersen.
It was a refreshing injection of subtlety from the captain after Aleksandar Mitrovic was made to contest 13 aerial duels in the first half, more than any other player across an entire game in this tournament.
Not that it was necessarily a sign of things to come – Mitrovic ended the game with 23 aerials, the second most by anyone in a single Euros game as far back as 1980.
Denmark coped pretty well, though. While Mitrovic and Serbia’s many other physical and tall players can be a handful, they were unable to really test Kasper Schmeichel, who was mostly a bystander even when his team were under pressure.
Andersen and Jannik Vestergaard were key to that; the former won nine of 14 aerial duels, the latter five of eight, while they amassed nine clearances between them, many of which came during a late bombardment from the increasingly desperate Serbians.
A disappointingly tame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic effort from the edge of the box late on was as close as Serbia came to hoisting themselves into the knockouts, however, with Schmeichel almost appearing startled by how little power the midfielder managed to get on his effort.
It proved to be their sole shot on target from a fairly measly total of five attempts, as Denmark ended the group stage with the third-lowest xG against (2.3) among the teams to have played three matches.
With their own underwhelming output in front of goal, it’s fair to say that defensive solidity ultimately played a major role in Denmark’s progress to the last 16, where hosts Germany await.
“We always want to win, we miss being in the locker room singing about how we won, that’s what we want,” Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand said pre-game after successive draws in their first two games.
Well, that wait goes on but at least they live to fight another day – those songs will be louder than ever if they can upset Germany.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Denmark vs Serbia stats from their Euro 2024 Group C clash in Munich.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Denmark vs Serbia: Post-Match Facts
- Denmark have qualified for the knockout stages of a UEFA European Championship on three of their last four attempts (reaching the quarter-finals in 2004 and the semi-finals in 2020).
- Serbia are now without a victory in their last eight major tournament matches (Euros/World Cup – D3 L5), since a 1-0 win over Costa Rica at the 2018 World Cup, their joint longest winless run at major tournaments (also a run of eight as Yugoslavia between 1974 and 1982).
- Denmark have drawn all three of their group games for the first time ever at a major tournament (World Cup & Euros), while in all competitions it’s the first time they’ve strung three draws together since a run of four in June 2019.
- Serbia mustered just one shot on target against Denmark, with their total haul of six shots on target at Euro 2024 their lowest-ever figure as an independent nation at a major tournament (World Cup & Euros since 2006).
- Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen won his 133rd cap for the country against Serbia, surpassing Simon Kjær on 132.
- Against Serbia, Eriksen added another two chances created to his total haul of 13 at EURO 2024, the most ever by a Danish player at a major tournament on record (World Cup & Euros since 1980).
- Denmark (28y 148d) named their oldest starting XI for a UEFA European Championship game since 2004, courtesy of a 2-2 group stage draw with Sweden (29y 72d).
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