Preview:Belarus vs Denmark - prediction, team news, lineups

Denmark travel to ZTE Arena in Hungary to face Belarus in their third fixture of 2026 World Cup qualifying on Thursday night.

The two nations are joined in Group C by Scotland and Greece, and they are currently separated by four points after two matches.

Match preview

Regarded by many as the favourites to top Group C, Denmark kick-started their qualification campaign with a goalless stalemate at home to Scotland last month, but they responded by beating Greece 3-0 on the road just three days later.

Goals from Mikkel Damsgaard, Andreas Christensen and Rasmus Hojlund secured maximum points for the Danes, who have won four of their first eight games in all competitions since the arrival of head coach Brian Riemer almost 12 months ago (D2 L2).

Ranked 20th in the world by FIFA, Denmark currently sit at the summit of Group C on goal difference and they have successfully qualified for five of the last seven World Cups, including both of the last two in Russia and Qatar.

The Red and Whites head into Thursday’s contest seeking to keep a fourth successive clean sheet for the first time since October 2021, and they will back themselves to keep Belarus at bay, as they did not concede in either of their previous two international meetings back in 1998 and 1999.

Belarus held Denmark to a 0-0 draw in European Championship qualifying before losing 1-0 away from home in their most recent meeting almost three decades ago, while they have also suffered defeat in their opening two 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The White Wings won three friendlies out of four, and scored 12 goals in the process, before suffering a heavy 5-1 away defeat to Greece on matchday one of qualifying last month, and that was followed just three days later by a 2-0 home loss to Scotland.

Carlos Alos’s side, regarded as rank outsiders to qualify from Group C, already face an uphill battle to sneak into the top two and they can ill-afford to drop more points across their next two fixtures against Denmark and Scotland if they with to cling on to hope of qualifying for the first-ever major tournament.

Belarus have struggled to grind out positive results when it matters, though, as the world’s 100th-ranked nation have failed to win any of their last six competitive matches (D3 L3) and have also lost each of their last nine World Cup qualifiers.

Belarus World Cup qualifying form:

L L

Belarus form (all competitions):

W W W L L L

Denmark World Cup qualifying form:

D W

Denmark form (all competitions):

W L W W D W

Team News

Wolfsburg playmaker Christian Eriksen has been recalled to the Denmark squad after being omitted in September, and he could be joined in midfield by Arsenal’s Christian Norgaard and Marseille’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Damsgaard could therefore operate on the left side of a front three including Gustav Isaksen and either Mika Biereth or Hojlund, the latter has scored three goals in his last two games for Napoli and also netted in his last appearance for Denmark.

Defender Rasmus Kristensen has withdrawn from the squad due to injury, while uncapped Utrecht midfielder Victor Jensen - who was called up by the Danes last month before withdrawing due to injury - remains unavailable for selection.

As for Belarus, Alos is set to stick with a back three of Yegor Parkhomenko, Pavel Zabelin and Zakhar Volkov, with Sergey Karpovich and Kiryl Pyachenin the most likely duo to begin as wing-backs.

Fifty-cap midfielder Max Ebong has scored five goals for his country, more than any other player in the current squad, and he is expected to start in the middle of the pitch behind forwards Yevgeny Malashevich and Herman Barkouski, who are yet to score a senior international goal.

Belarus possible starting lineup:

Pavlyuchenko; Parkhomenko, Zabelin, Volkov; Karpovich, Myakish, Kalinin, Pyachenin; Ebong; Malashevich, Barkouski

Denmark possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Gaaei, Andersen, Christiansen, Maehle; Hojbjerg, Hjulmand, Eriksen; Isaksen, Hojlund, Damsgaard

We say: Belarus 0-2 Denmark

Belarus will attempt to frustrate Denmark with a low block and they will need to take advantage of the counter-attacking opportunities that they could be presented with in a contest that the Danes are expected to dominate. The visitors will rightly be considered as favourites, though, and they should ultimately have enough quality in their side to secure all three points.

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