The Best Soccer Players From Denmark
Updated July 1, 2023 16.4K votes 2.6K voters 96.3K views
Over 2.6K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Soccer Players From Denmark
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Vote up the best Danish footballers of all time.
Who are the best football players from Denmark? These are the greatest soccer players born in Denmark or who played on the Danish national football team. While the Denmark men's national team has a long and storied history of producing top international talent, fans of De Rød-Hvide have been waiting for the Danish Dynamite to capture international glory for some time now. So, who are the best footballers from Denmark? Who is the best Danish soccer player of all time?
Some of the best Denmark soccer players include national legends like Dennis Rommedahl, Michael Laudrup, Allan Simonsen, Nicklas Bendtner and Peter Schmeichel, as well as current Danish soccer stars such as Kaspar Schmeichel, Christian Eriksen, and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, who are making and impact across the globe.
Vote up the best soccer players from the Denmark, and help decide who is the greatest Danish footballer of all time!
Most divisive: Sophus Hansen
Ranked by
- 1Forward, Midfielder1,043 votes
- Birthplace: Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Nationality: Denmark
Michael Laudrup (Danish pronunciation: [mikʰæːl ˈlaʊ̯tʁɔp], born 15 June 1964) is a Danish professional football coach and former player. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation. He is the older brother of fellow retired footballer Brian Laudrup. During his playing career, Laudrup won league titles with Ajax, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus, playing mainly as an attacking midfielder, although he was also capable of playing in other offensive positions. A world class playmaker, he was a member of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team" at Barcelona, where he won nine trophies, including four successive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994 and the European Cup in 1992. Laudrup moved to arch-rivals Real Madrid in 1994, with whom he won his fifth La Liga title in a row. Laudrup made his debut for the Denmark national team on his 18th birthday in 1982, and scored 37 goals in 104 appearances. He starred in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, and from November 1994, he captained Denmark for a total of 28 matches, including the victorious 1995 Confederations Cup tournament. He played alongside his brother Brian in the Denmark team that reached the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup, and retired as an active player after the tournament. In 1999, Laudrup was voted the Best Foreign Player in Spanish Football over the preceding 25-year period and in April 2000 he was knighted, receiving the Order of the Dannebrog. In November 2003, to celebrate UEFA's Jubilee, he was selected as the Golden Player of Denmark by the Danish Football Association, their most outstanding player of the past 50 years. He was officially named the best Danish footballer of all time by the Danish Football Association (DBU) in November 2006. He was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players at a FIFA awards ceremony in 2004. In April 2013, he was named by Marca in the "Best foreign eleven in Real Madrid's history". He is by some considered the greatest Scandinavian footballer ever, ahead of the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimović.After retiring as a player, Laudrup took up coaching, and became assistant manager of the Denmark national team. He got his first manager job at former club Brøndby in 2002, whom he guided to the 2005 Danish Superliga championship. He chose not to extend his contract with Brøndby in May 2006. He took over as coach of Getafe and had notable success there. He brought the club comparative success in the Copa del Rey and UEFA Cup, and the team's attacking style received plaudits. On 15 June 2012, Laudrup was appointed the manager of Premier League club Swansea City on a two-year contract. In his first season in south Wales, he won the League Cup, the first major English trophy in Swansea's 100-year history. On 4 February 2014, he was sacked by Swansea after a "significant" slump in the Premier League, leaving them two points above the relegation zone. Laudrup then managed Qatari clubs Lekhwiya and Al Rayyan between 2014 and 2018.- #107 of 284The Best Soccer Players Of All Time
- #27 of 161The Best Soccer Players of the '90s
- #552 of 1,269The Best Athletes Of All Time
- 2Goalkeeper1,028 votes
- Birthplace: Gladsaxe Municipality, Denmark
- Nationality: Denmark
Peter Bolesław Schmeichel, MBE (Danish pronunciation: [pʰetɐ ˈsmaɪ̯ˀkl̩]; born 18 November 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper in 1992 and 1993. He is best remembered for his most successful years at English club Manchester United, whom he captained to victory in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final to complete the Treble, and for winning UEFA Euro 1992 with Denmark. Born in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen, Schmeichel was famous for his intimidating physique (at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) tall and weighing close to 100 kg (15 st 10 lb) during his playing days), and wore specially made size XXXL football shirts. A fierce competitor, he was known for his loud, unstinting criticism of mistakes he believed the defenders in front of him committed. Unusually for a goalkeeper, Schmeichel scored 10 goals during his career, including one for the national team. He is also the most capped player for the Denmark national team, with 129 games between 1987 and 2001. In addition to Euro 92, he played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and three additional European Championship tournaments. He captained the national team in 30 matches. He also represented Gladsaxe Hero, Hvidovre, Brøndby, Sporting CP, Aston Villa and Manchester City in a career that lasted from 1981 until 2003 and yielded 24 trophies. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time, the IFFHS ranked Schmeichel among the top ten keepers of the 20th century in 2000, and in 2001, Schmeichel won a public poll held by Reuters, when the majority of the 200,000 participants voted him as the best goalkeeper ever, ahead of Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks. In 2003, Schmeichel was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his impact on the English game. In March 2004, he was named as one of the "125 greatest living footballers", at the FIFA 100 celebrations. His son, Kasper, is also a professional football goalkeeper, currently playing for Premier League side Leicester City and the Danish national team. - 3
Brian Laudrup
Forward, Midfielder627 votes- Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
- Nationality: Denmark
Brian Laudrup (Danish pronunciation: [pʁiæn ˈlaʊ̯tʁɔp], born 22 February 1969) is a Danish former footballer who played as a winger, forward or as a midfielder. He currently works as a football commentator, pundit and analyst on Kanal 5 and 6'eren. Along with former international goalkeeper Lars Høgh, Laudrup manages a football academy for marginalised youth.During his short playing career which eventually stalled due to injury, Laudrup represented a number of European clubs. He started with Danish club Brøndby, winning two Danish championships in the late 1980s. He then played for German and Italian clubs, winning the 1993–94 Serie A as well as the 1994 UEFA Champions League title with Milan. He was a vital part of the Rangers team which dominated the Scottish Premier Division in the 1990s, winning three championships, among others. He won the 1998 UEFA Super Cup in his brief stint with English club Chelsea, and had a brief spell with Copenhagen in Denmark, before ending his career with Ajax in 2000. Laudrup also played 82 matches and scored 21 goals for the Denmark national team, and was a vital part of the Danish teams which won UEFA Euro 1992 and the 1995 Confederations Cup. Laudrup won the Danish Football Player of the Year award a record four times. He was named by FIFA as the fifth-best player in the world in 1992 and was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers at the FIFA 100 ceremony in March 2004, alongside his older brother Michael Laudrup. - 4Forward504 votes
- Birthplace: Vejle, Denmark
- Nationality: Denmark
Allan Rodenkam Simonsen (born 15 December 1952) is a Danish former footballer and manager. He most prominently played as a forward for German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, winning the 1975 and 1979 UEFA Cups, as well as for Barcelona from Spain, winning the 1982 Cup Winners' Cup. Simonsen is the only footballer to have scored in the European Cup, UEFA Cup, and Cup Winners' Cup finals. Simonsen was named 1977 European Footballer of the Year. For the Denmark national football team, Simonsen was capped 55 times, scoring 20 goals. He represented Denmark at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1984 European Championship and 1986 World Cup tournaments. He was voted into the Danish Football Hall of Fame in November 2008. - 5Midfielder858 votes
- Birthplace: Middelfart, Denmark
- Nationality: Denmark
Christian Dannemann Eriksen (born 14 February 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Manchester United and the Denmark national team. He is also capable of playing as a central midfielder or a mezzala. Eriksen made his senior international debut for Denmark in 2010 at age 18, and has since earned over 100 caps, including appearing in five major tournaments; he was also the youngest player at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Eriksen is his country's seventh-highest all-time goalscorer, and was named Danish Football Player of the Year a record five times. At Euro 2020, Eriksen collapsed on the pitch after suffering cardiac arrest; he was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation and was later fitted with an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator.- #69 of 296The Best Current Soccer Players
- #91 of 98The Best Soccer Players Of 2023
- #53 of 71The Best Soccer Nicknames Of 2023
- 6Forward472 votes
- Birthplace: Copenhagen, Denmark
- Nationality: Denmark
Preben Elkjær (born 11 September 1957) is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a striker. Amongst others, he played with Hellas Verona in Italy, helping the club to the only major title of its history, the 1985 Serie A. Additionally, Elkjær scored nearly 40 goals for the Danish national team in 11 years, being a leading figure for the Danish side under coach Sepp Piontek that played at the Euro 1984 and the 1986 World Cup (a first-ever appearance), often hailed as the golden generation of Danish football by their countrymen. Elkjær won the Bronze Ball award at the latter competition. Widely regarded as one of the best forwards of the 1980's, Elkjær finished second in the Ballon d'Or awards in 1985, having been placed third the previous year, and going on to finish fourth in 1986. In Verona he is still remembered, having earned the persisting nickname "Il sindaco" (the mayor) during his stint for the club. Renowned for his goal-scoring abilities and his wit, he remains one of the most popular football personalities in his native Denmark.
