A thrashing 4-0, Denmark eliminates North Macedonia in World Cup Playoffs, and their next opponent is the Czech Republic.
2026 World Cup qualification Europe
4-0
Match Report:
Gustav Isaksen scored twice in two minutes as Denmark powered to a 4-0 win over North Macedonia in their World Cup playoff semi-final in Copenhagen on Thursday to earn a place in Tuesday’s Path D decider against either Czech Republic or the Republic of Ireland.
Mikkel Damsgaard and Christian Norgaard were also on target as Denmark pulled away in the second half having been held scoreless in the opening period, and they now head to the final seeking a third successive World Cup qualification.
North Macedonia never showed much ambition to get forward but were stubborn opponents in the first 45 minutes. Once behind though, the floodgates opened and the home side scored three goals in 10 minutes to make the tie safe.
Denmark went ahead four minutes into the second half as their pressure finally took its toll. Isaksen was denied by an excellent last-ditch tackle and as the ball fell loose in the box, Damsgaard fired into the empty net.
It was 2-0 on 58 minutes as Damsgaard turned provider when his excellent cross to the back post was steered into the net by Isaksen.
The tie was made safe a minute later when Isaksen scored his second goal. Victor Froholdt’s shot from the edge of the box was only parried by North Macedonia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski and Isaksen turned in the rebound.
The fourth goal was far too easy as Christian Eriksen’s corner to the back post was going directly in but was helped over the line by team-mate Norgaard.
Match Events
1' Highlight from Denmark vs North Macedonia
16' Highlight from Denmark vs North Macedonia
32' Match Event for Denmark vs North Macedonia
49' GOAL! Denmark 1-0 North Macedonia (Mikkel Damsgaard)
49' Highlight from Denmark vs North Macedonia
57' Match Event for Denmark vs North Macedonia
58' GOAL! Denmark 2-0 North Macedonia (Gustav Isaksen)
59' GOAL! Denmark 3-0 North Macedonia (Gustav Isaksen)
75' GOAL! Denmark 4-0 North Macedonia (Christian Nørgaard)
Line-ups
Denmark XI: Christian Nørgaard, Hojbjerg, Joakim Maehle, Victor Nelsson, Alexander Bah, Mikkel Damsgaard, Morten Hjulmand, Gustav Isaksen, Mads Hermansen, Højlund, Victor Froholdt
Subs: Eriksen, Ronnow, Anders Dreyer, Mathias Jensen, N. Nartey, Kasper Høgh, Jesper Lindstrøm, Andreas Jungdal, Oliver Provstgaard, William Osula, Lucas Høgsberg, Noah Nartey
North Macedonia XI: Visar Musliu, Stole Dimitrievski, Gjoko Zajkov, Bardhi, Sebastián Herrera, Elmas, Darko Churlinov, Jani Atanasov, Lirim Qamili, Elmin Rastoder, Andrej Stojcevski
Subs: Aleksandar Trajkovski, Damjan Siskovski, Darko Velkovski, Egzon Bejtulai, Isnik Alimi, Dejan Iliev, Boban Nikolov, Ljupco Doriev, Milan Ristovski, Danny Musovski, Bojan Miovski, Nikola Serafimov