Denmark v Serbia background

Serbia are hoping to register a first win as an independent nation against Denmark, but things will not be easy in Copenhagen as the hosts are enjoying a strong run in European qualifiers on home soil. 

Previous meetings
• Serbia met Denmark for the first time as an independent nation in the 14 November 2014 Group I encounter in Belgrade. Zoran Tošić (4) gave the hosts an early lead, but Nicklas Bendtner (60, 85) and Simon Kjær (62) found the target in the second half to help Morten Olsen's visitors to a 3-1 win.

• Denmark and Yugoslavia crossed paths seven times, leaving the Danes with the record W2 D0 L5 (W1 D0 L3 at home, W1 D0 L2 in Yugoslavia). Those games include a one-sided meeting at the 1984 UEFA European Championship, where Sepp Piontek's Denmark beat Todor Veselinović's Yugoslavia 5-0, Frank Arnesen (8, 69), Klaus Berggreen (16), Preben Elkjær (82) and Jan Lauridsen (84) sharing the goals.

• The teams for that match at Lyon's Stade de Gerland on 16 June 1984 were:
Denmark: Qvist, Rasmussen (Sivebæk 61), Morten Olsen, Busk, Nielsen, Berggreen, Arnesen (Lauridsen 78), Bertelsen, Lerby, Michael Laudrup, Elkjær.
Yugoslavia: Ivković, Miljuš, Nenad Stojković, Zajec, Katanec (Halilović 55), Radanović, Gudelj, Baždarević (Dragan Stojković 27), Cvetković, Sušić, Vujović.

• Denmark and Yugoslavia's last senior meetings came in 1992 UEFA European Championship qualifying; Denmark lost 2-0 at home but won 2-1 in Belgrade. Denmark finished a point adrift of Yugoslavia at the top of Group 4, but were called in to replace their rivals at the final tournament in Sweden after FIFA suspended Yugoslavia – famously going on to win the competition.

Form guide
• Before the 14 October 1-0 loss to Portugal, Denmark had won their previous seven UEFA European Championship qualifiers on home soil. Their preceding defeat was a 3-1 loss to Spain on 13 October 2007 during UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying.

• Denmark have prevailed in just two of their last seven competitive home games. A 6-0 victory against Malta was their only home success during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying, while Armenia were defeated 2-1 in the opening UEFA EURO 2016 qualifier.

• Serbia have lost their last two qualifiers, going down 2-1 in Portugal after their 3-1 home defeat by Denmark.

• Serbia have not won a game after 90 minutes during this qualifying campaign, though they were awarded a 3-0 victory (and had three points deducted) when the game in Belgrade against Albania was abandoned. Their only other positive result came from an opening 1-1 draw in Armenia.

Trivia and links
• Denmark and Serbia met in 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying, drawing 0-0 in Serbia and 1-1 in Denmark.

• Denmark and Serbia have been drawn in Group A of the 2015 UEFA European U21 Championship finals, and are due to lock horns on 23 June.

• Yugoslavian/Serbian and Danish clubs have met in six UEFA club competition games, with the Serbian sides boasting the record W2 D3 L1 (W2 D1 L0 at home, W0 D2 L1 in Denmark).

• Denmark's Simon Poulsen and Serbia's Nemanja Gudelj were team-mates at Eredivisie outfit AZ Alkmaar in the 2014/15 season.