page_title: Sport in Denmark
section_title: Football
hierarchical_section_title: Sport in Denmark / Football
caption_attribution_description: Michael Laudrup at a press conference as manger of Brøndby IF in 2006.
context_page_description: Sport in Denmark is diverse. The national sport is football with the most notable results being qualifying for the European Championships six times in a row and winning the Championship in 1992. Other significant achievements include winning the Confederations Cup in 1995 and reaching the quarter final of the 1998 World Cup. Other popular sports include handball, cycling, sailing sports, badminton, ice hockey, swimming and recently also golf.
  A few youths also play Basketball.
  Sport is encouraged in school, and there are local sports clubs in all cities and most towns.
  The national stadium for football is the Parken Stadium.
context_section_description: Football is the most popular sport in Denmark, with over 313,000 players in more than 1600 clubs. The national football team in Denmark have reached high and notable results, like qualifying for the European Championships six times in a row (1984–2004) and winning the UEFA Championship in 1992. Other significant achievements include winning the Confederations Cup in 1995 and reaching the quarter final of the 1998 World Cup.
  Denmark national football team reached #3 ranking in the FIFA ranking in May 1997, and #1 at the World Football Elo Ratings system in (1912–1920).
  The top-league in Danish football is called The Danish Superliga. The reigning champions are F.C. Copenhagen, while they are also the most successful club ever in financial terms. Famous Superliga players include Per Nielsen, Jimmy Nielsen, Michael Hansen, Mogens Krogh, Daniel Agger and Jesper Grønkjær.
  The second level league is the Danish 1st Division, which was last won by Lyngby Boldklub. The third tier is made up of the two Danish 2nd Divisions: East and West. The last two champions were NordVest (East) and Blokhus FC (West). The fourth tier is the Denmark Series, which is split into three pools. The last champions were BK Marienlyst, IF Skjold Birkerød and Kjellerup IF.
  The top women's league is the Elitedivisionen, most recently won by Fortuna Hjørring. HEI Aarhus are the most successful team, with 10 titles.
  The premier cup competition is the Danish Cup, won in 2016 by F.C. Copenhagen. AGF are 9 time champions. Copenhagen are also the last winners of the Danish Supercup, back in 2004, of which Brøndby IF are the most successful club. Brøndby are the only winners of the twice-held Danish League Cup.
  The Danish Women's Cup has been won the last three times in a row by Brøndby IF, and seven times overall by Fortuna Hjørring.
  The current manager of the national team is Åge Hareide, and Simon Kjær is the captain. Legendary former players include Poul "Tist" Nielsen, Peter Schmeichel, Jon Dahl Tomasson, Allan Simonsen and Michael Laudrup.
caption: Michael Laudrup, named the best Danish footballer ever by the Danish Football Association
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