UEFA Euro 2024: Slovenia Vs Denmark Preview

Written by Oluwaseun Oyediji

Group C of the 2024 UEFA European Championship gets underway with Slovenia against former champions Denmark at the MPH Arena, Stuttgart, on Sunday.

This is one of the groups to watchout for during this yera’s tournament with one of the favourites England set to compete against Serbia, Slovenia and Denmark. While England kickoff their quest for glory against Serbia, Slovenia and Denmark will get the group underway on Sunday evening.

Head-to-Head

These two sides have become quite familiar with one another, having shared the stage in Group H of Euro 2024 qualifying, as the Danes’ 2-1 victory last November helped them claim the top spot after the pair finished on 22 points each (both seven wins. a draw, and two losses).

That loss extended Slovenia’s winless record against Denmark to six games (a draw and five losses), but they won’t be deterred from trying to end that run, since that defeat was just one of two that Matjaž Kek’s men have suffered in their last 21 matches against any opponent (13 wins and six draws).

Form

Getting a result here will likely be pivotal to Slovenia’s outside chances of reaching the last 16, but history isn’t on their side as they’ve won only one of their nine prior group-stage encounters in all major tournaments (three draws and five losses), failing to progress on all three occasions. 

Notwithstanding, they are unbeaten in their last six games since a 2-1 loss to Denmark in the qualification series beating Kazakhstan, United States of America (USA), Portugal, and Armenia in the process.

The group stage is also where Denmark saw their highly disappointing 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign come to its conclusion.

Instead, they’ll be looking to recreate their Euros heroics from just a year earlier, when they rallied following Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest to make it all the way to the semi-finals before being knocked out by fellow Group C opponents England.

Sharing a group with the Three Lions on this occasion may be a good omen though, as they did so when sensationally lifting the European Championship in 1992 despite famously not initially qualifying.

Manager Kasper Hjulmand will be looking to justify his side’s tag as many people’s dark horses for the 2024 edition, given their red-hot form of losing only once in their 12 matches (nine wins and two draws) before departing for Germany.

The 1992 champions are on three-game winning run and four-match unbeaten streak since a 2-0 loss to Northern Ireland in November last year. Victories over the Faroe Islands and Scandinavian neighbours, Swedene and Norway put them in the right frame of mind ahead of this match.

Players to watch

Jan Oblak was key for Slovenia in qualifying, keeping clean sheets in half of his eight appearances while producing an excellent save percentage of 76.9%.

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Denmark’s Rasmus Hojlund scored against Slovenia during the campaign - but not when Oblak was playing - to contribute to a fine total of seven goals from his eight qualifying matches.

The Scandinavian side has scored first in 11 of their last 14 games (ten wins, two draws, and two losses).

Verdict

Denmark should win this one by any margin given the array of stars at their disposal and pedigree of winning the tournament in time past as Slovenia continues to search for their first breakthrough in the group stage of major tournaments.

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