Denmark secured qualification for the knockout stages of the European Championship after going unbeaten in Group C. Kasper Hjulmand’s men drew all three of their matches, drawing 1-1 with both Slovenia and Denmark before a goalless draw with Serbia on match day three.
Group C threw up some of the most boring matches of the group stage, with only seven goals scored across the six games. To put that into context, Germany alone scored more goals than all four teams in Group C combined, netting eight goals across their three Group A fixtures.
Denmark’s Superior Disciplinary Record
Little-known rule saw Denmark edge out Slovenia
Slovenia ended the group stage with an identical record to Denmark, having also recorded two 1-1 draws, against Denmark and Serbia, and a goalless draw against England. However, they were pipped to the runners-up spot in Group C by Denmark.
UEFA usually uses goal difference to determine which team should finish higher in a group when two teams have finished level on points, but Slovenia and Denmark both had identical goal records, each scoring two and conceding two. After goal difference, UEFA considers the two teams’ disciplinary records, but, player-wise, they were also identical, with the two teams accruing six yellow cards and no red cards over the three games.
However, per The Sun, Slovenia’s technical director Milivoje Novakovic was booked during their first match of the tournament against Denmark, meaning the Danes ended the group stage with a better disciplinary record, as bookings for staff members also count towards a team’s disciplinary record.
This has now been confirmed by UEFA, per journalist Sam Dean, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “UEFA have officially confirmed that Denmark finished ahead of Slovenia in Group C because of a yellow card shown to Slovenia assistant coach Novakovic Milivoje. Denmark and Slovenia finished level on points, goal difference, goals scored and yellow cards shown to players.”
Group C final standings | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position | Team | GF | GA | GD | Points |
1st | England | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
2nd | Denmark | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
3rd | Slovenia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
4th | Serbia | 1 | 2 | -1 | 2 |
Who Denmark and Slovenia Will Face Next
Group C runners-up handed nightmare draw
Denmark might end up wishing that they had picked up a couple more bookings after they were rewarded for finishing second with a last 16 meeting with tournament hosts and top scorers Germany. Slovenia are guaranteed a spot in the last 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams from the group stage, and will face either Portugal or the winner of Group E. The four teams in Group E – Romania, Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine – are all currently level on three points each after two games.
Speaking after his team was pitted against one of the tournament favourites, Denmark manager Hjulmand said: “We are representing Danish football and we have to be happy about it. It’s special, of course, when you play the hosts. It is a fantastic football country with a lot of passion. I really love football here in Germany and playing against them with the Danish team – it cannot be better. I can’t wait.”
Serbia manager Dragan Stojkovic, whose team needed to beat Denmark on matchday three in order to progress, said: “We’re talking about one goal that sends you up or down. Denmark and Slovenia progress without any victories. Tonight we were very equal. The luck was on the other side. We are not here to try to find reasons. We haven’t won. That’s the end of the story.”