Sports Mole previews Saturday’s 2026 World Cup qualifier between Denmark and Belarus, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Seeking to strengthen their hopes of securing automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup, Denmark welcome already-eliminated Belarus to Parken Stadium for their penultimate Group C fixture on Saturday night.
The hosts will be eyeing up another statement victory against the White Wings after cruising to a 6-0 win in the reverse fixture last month.
Match preview
Denmark have put themselves in a strong position to qualify for a third successive World Cup finals for the first time in their history, as they have accumulated 10 points from their opening four Group C fixtures, scoring 12 goals and conceding only one in the process.
The Danes have put together a six-game unbeaten run all competitions since March (W5 D1) and followed up the aforementioned six-goal thumping of Belarus with a 3-1 home victory over Greece on matchday four last month, courtesy of first-half goals from Rasmus Hojlund, Joachim Andersen and Mikkel Damsgaard.
Goal difference is all that currently separates Denmark at the top of Group C from Scotland in second place. Brian Riemer’s side know that victory against Belarus on Saturday will keep them at the summit and would see them travel to Hampden Park on Tuesday needing just a draw from their final group game to automatically qualify for the World Cup.
Ranked 20th in the world by FIFA, Denmark boast an unbeaten record against Belarus (W2 D1), while their form on home soil has been exceptional since the previous World Cup, winning 14 of their 17 matches (D2 L1) in all competitions in front of their own fans, which bodes well ahead of this weekend’s contest.
Unlike Denmark, Belarus’s World Cup hopes have long faded. They are one of only six European nations who have failed to pick up a single point in qualifying thus far and are all but certain to finish rock bottom of Group C – currently three points behind Tuesday’s opponents Greece in third.
The White Wings won three friendlies out of four and scored 12 goals in the process earlier this year, before suffering four successive losses in World Cup qualifying by an aggregate score of 15-2. A 2-1 away defeat to Scotland – in which they registered 20 shots on goal – represents their most recent setback last month.
Carlos Alos’s side, who recently slipped to 103rd in the FIFA World Rankings, have struggled in World Cup qualifying for some time, as they have suffered 11 consecutive defeats since beating Estonia by a 4-2 scoreline in March 2021.
Belarus have also come out on top in only two of their last 13 international matches away from home (D4 L7) in all competitions and will head into this weekend’s clash with Denmark as huge underdogs who have never score in three previous meetings against the Danes.
Denmark World Cup qualifying form:
Denmark form (all competitions):
Belarus World Cup qualifying form:
Belarus form (all competitions):
Team News
Denmark strikers Will Osula and Yussuf Poulsen of Newcastle United and Hamburger SV respectively have both withdrawn from the national team squad this month due to injury. Wolfsburg full-back Joakim Maehle is also in the treatment room.
Rasmus Kristensen has returned to the squad after missing the October camp through injury. Midtjylland’s Philip Billing and Hellas Verona’s Victor Nelsson have also been recalled, while Stuttgart’s Nikolas Nartey has been selected in the senior squad for the first time.
Hojlund has scored a team-high four goals across his last three World Cup qualifiers and the Napoli striker is expected to lead the line on Saturday, while the likes of captain Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg, Andreas Christensen and 146-cap Christian Eriksen are also in contention to start.
As for Belarus, as many as 10 players who were called up in October have been left out of Alos’s latest squad, including 82-cap defender Alyaksandr Martynovich, 38, and 29-cap midfielder Yury Kavalyow, 32.
Of those who have been selected, Celje forward Vitaly Lisakovich has scored seven goals for his country – more than any other player in the current squad – and he will likely feature in attack, potentially alongside German Barkovsky.
Denmark possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Christiansen, Andersen, Vestergaard; Isaksen, Hojbjerg, Hjulmand, Dorgu; Damsgaard, Eriksen; Hojlund
Belarus possible starting lineup:
Pavlyuchenko; Parkhomenko, Malkevich, Zabelin; Pigas, Ebong, Gromyko, Yablonsky, Pyachenin; Barkovsky, Lisakovich
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We say: Denmark 4-0 Belarus
If Denmark are to reproduce their emphatic display from the reverse fixture, then there is only one way that this weekend’s game is heading. Boasting a much stronger squad and facing a defensively-frail opponent, the Danes are well positioned to secure all three points once again.
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