00:00Denmark will face North Macedonia at Parkins Stadium in the UEFA 2026 World Cup qualification playoff semifinal.
00:08The hosts have become a familiar presence at recent global tournaments and are determined to keep that run alive.
00:14To reach North America this summer, Denmark must first overcome the visitors on Thursday
00:19and then defeat either the Czech Republic or Republic of Ireland in next week's final.
00:24The Scandinavians are chasing a third straight World Cup appearance and hope to improve on their disappointing Qatar campaign,
00:31where they collected only one point and crashed out in the group stage.
00:36They have navigated playoffs twice before and advanced both times,
00:41most recently thrashing the Republic of Ireland 5-1 on aggregate in 2022.
00:46Denmark have met North Macedonia just once on home soil,
00:51securing a 1-0 victory in a 1995 European Championship qualifier.
00:56Looking at recent form, Denmark's last 10 competitive matches show 4 wins, 3 defeats and 3 draws.
01:05They average 2 goals per game from 6 shots on target in nearly 18 total attempts,
01:11while enjoying 56.7% possession, completing 558 passes and winning 7.7 corners.
01:18Opponents have managed 1.4 goals against them from 3.7 shots on target.
01:24Rasmus Hodgland leads the scoring charts with 6 goals.
01:28Mikkel Damsgaard has 3 and Patrick Dorgu plus 2 others sit on 2.
01:33Andreas Christensen, Victor Froholt and Dorgu share the most assists with 2 each,
01:39while goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has kept 5 clean sheets.
01:43North Macedonia arrive in solid shape.
01:455 wins.
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