Going into the 1986 World Cup Denmark had never beaten West Germany in a competitive international. ‘Danish Dynamite’ would change that.
Denmark 2-0 West Germany
Date: 13 June 1986
Venue: Queretaro, Mexico
By Conor Hogan
Denmark came from nowhere in international terms to having a terrific side in the mid to late ‘80s. The team included players such as Morten Olsen, Jan Molby, Frank Arnesen and Michael Laudrup (and Allan Simonsen who was injured for the 1986 tournament).
They were compared to the Dutch team of the 1970s and became known as ‘Danish Dynamite’ by fans and commentators enthused by their extremely attacking and attractive style of play.
During the ’86 World Cup (the country’s first) they played some magnificent stuff, beating Scotland 1-0 before tearing Uruguay apart in a 6-1 trashing.
Their final group match was against ’82 finalists West Germany, and despite having already qualified, despite the fact that the group runner-up would face the easier match in the second round (Morocco, rather than Spain), Danish coach Sepp Piontek resisted the urge to rest any of his players.
Denmark comfortably beat their neighbours. Jesper Olsen scored from a penalty after Morten Olsen was taken down in the German box at the end of a magnificent run. The second was scored by John Eriksen, after a terrific team move.
Denmark were installed by many as the tournament favourites after that match. In the following round, however, they inexplicably lost 5-1 to Spain, in one of the most surprising results in World Cup history, despite opening the scoring through another Jesper Olsen penalty.
Germany, on the other hand, beat the Moroccans in the second round before scraping past Mexico on penalties in the quarters. A 2-0 victory in the semis over France gave them a place in their second consecutive World Cup final, which they lost 3-2 to Argentina.
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