Denmark's Christian Eriksen looks dejected after failing to qualify for the FIFA World Cup [File: David W Cerny/Reuters]By Al Jazeera Staff and ReutersPublished On 7 Jun 20267 Jun 2026
Danish football player Christian Eriksen has collapsed on the pitch during a friendly match against Ukraine, but has regained consciousness, the Danish Football Federation said in a social media post.
“Christian Eriksen is conscious and is doing well under the circumstances,” the federation said on Sunday in a statement on X, adding that the friendly had been called off.
The match was about 20 minutes into its second half when Eriksen collapsed to the ground. A hush came over the audience as both Danish and Ukrainian footballers formed a ring around the midfielder.
Medics attended to him on the pitch, and he was eventually able to walk to an ambulance.
“Christian is doing well and walked from the field himself. As I see it, the pacemaker is working as it should. He was briefly gone, but very quickly regained consciousness, and we were quickly in contact with him,” team doctor Morten Boesen told Danish media.
“He will now be examined further in the hospital to find out what caused the incident,” Boesen said, adding that Eriksen “asked me to talk to all the players and say that he was okay”.
The incident marked the second time in five years the 34-year-old has collapsed during a match.
In 2021, Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest during a European championship match in Copenhagen and was given life-saving CPR treatment. He was later fitted with a special heart-starting device known as an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD).
He ended his career in Italy, where he had played for Inter Milan, but he recovered and resumed professional play in 2022.
Neither Denmark nor Ukraine qualified for this year’s World Cup.
