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Get to know all the players that have been selected to represent Denmark at the Women's World Cup this summer.
Goalkeepers
Kathrine Larsen
Date of birth: 05/05/1993
Club: Brøndby IF
Multi-talented, as a youngster she played football but also did taekwondo, jiu-jitsu, gymnastics and swimming. Was surprisingly left out of the Euro 2022 squad despite having been a reliable back-up to Lene Christensen for some time.
However, a great season for Brøndby means she is back in the international fold and ready to challenge for the No 1 spot. Born in Glostrup, a suburb of Copenhagen, she has played in most clubs around the capital and is a certified lawyer too.
Lene Christensen
Date of birth: 04/02/2000
Club: Rosenborg BK
Christensen already has more than 20 caps at the age of 23 and has recovered from the serious leg injury that kept her out of most of this year to start in goal at the World Cup. Three years ago she made quite an entrance to international football.
After a Covid outbreak in the Denmark team before the final Euro qualifier against Italy in December 2020, which forced the now retired first choice Katrine Abel to quarantine, Christensen rose to the challenge. A clean sheet and a player-of-the-match performance later and Denmark had found their new No 1.
Maja Bay Østergaard
Date of birth: 28/03/1998
Club: FC Thy-Thisted Q
You know when the 1.71m tall Østergaard is on the pitch – because she is always shouting instructions to her teammates. She was finally handed her international debut against Norway this year – and repaid the faith with a clean sheet – after many a great and consistent season for FC Thy-Thisted Q, a small club from north-west Denmark.
She was instrumental and named player of the match as Thisted wrote history two years ago by winning their first cup final. “Those matches have so far been the highlight of my career,” she said. “But I dream of playing for the national team and in the Champions League.”
Defenders
Name: Katrine Veje
Date of birth: 16/06/1991
Club: Everton
An extremely versatile player who has gone from playing as a winger to wing-back, left-sided central defender, in a back three and then back to wing-back. Having made her debut in 2009 she is now a veteran of the team, offering remarkable consistency wherever she plays.
She likes to dribble, has a wicked left foot and oozes confidence on the ball. When she was younger, she used to play with the Denmark internationals Rasmus Falk (now FC Copenhagen) and Christian Eriksen (Manchester United) in their local club in Middelfart. Joined Everton from Rosengård for the start of the 2022-23 season and has said that an injury during Covid “allowed her to seriously find herself”.
Luna Gevitz
Date of birth: 03/03/1994
Club: Montpellier
Alongside her football career she has been studying to become an architect and graduated at the start of 2022 after six and a half years of hard work. At the same time, she has played professionally in three countries. “I like to have a lot on,” she says.
Has just over 20 caps despite making her debut in 2014. Gevitz was part of the teams that finished second at the 2017 Euros and participated in last summer’s tournament in England. “She is a really stable centre-back with a great vision for the game,” the goalkeeper Kathrine Larsen said of her international teammate. “She is great to have in front of you.”
Simone Boye Sørensen
Date of birth: 03/03/1992
Club: Hammarby
Back in Sweden with Hammarby, having previously played for Rosengård, she is part of an upwardly mobile club that is challenging for the league and recently won the cup. A leader for club and country, she dictates the game from centre-back and is a threat at set pieces.
Started playing football at the age of seven and is one of the strongest defenders in Europe, both physically and mentally. When Denmark needed her the most, in the penalty shootout against Austria in the semi-final of the 2017 Euros, she stepped up and dispatched the decisive spot-kick.
Stine Ballisager Pedersen
Date of birth: 03/01/1994
Club: Kansas City Current
An important part of Lars Søndergaard’s team, but it has taken dedication, hard work and no small amount of patience to get there. She had to wait more than five years between her second and third cap but her current standing was highlighted when she won the Danish player of the year award in 2022.
Ballisager, or just “Ballis” as she is known, loves defending, and will take her no-nonsense style with her to Kansas after the World Cup. “There is nothing better than making the perfect slide tackle,” she has said. She is a fighter and a leader and was the captain at both of her previous clubs, Vålerenga and VSK Aarhus (now AGF).
Rikke Sevecke
Date of birth: 15/07/1996
Club:
Bade an emotional farewell to Everton in May after three years, writing on Instagram: “Evertonians, first of all I would like to say thank you! Thank you for welcoming me with open arms and for your endless support. It has been a true pleasure playing for such an iconic and historic club as Everton.”
The national coach, Lars Søndergaard, has praised her positioning and passing but says she has to become even more of a leader to reach her potential. Mainly a centre-back she can play at right-back too. Used to be quite right-footed but these days her left foot is just as good. Born in Nykøbing Falster, she began playing with boys at the age of three and carried on with them until her parents started a girls’ team.
Frederikke Thøgersen
Date of birth: 24/07/1995
Club: Inter
A smart and quick player, she sustained an ACL injury in the summer of 2021 and missed last year’s Euros in England because of it. But the right full-back has thrived with Internazionale this season and forced her way back into Lars Søndergaard´s squad.
While celebrating her first league title with Fortuna Hjørring in 2014 the podium collapsed under Thørgersen and her teammates as they lifted the trophy. No one was hurt and it won Fortuna a nomination for best celebration at the 2014 sport awards in Denmark. When not playing football Thøgersen is working to finish her master’s in political science and believes that if she did not play football she would be working in politics.
Midfielders
Emma Snerle
Date of birth: 23/03/01
Club: West Ham
Injuries have followed Snerle around during her first season with West Ham – and she was ruled out of Euro 2022 too – but since returning to fitness in the spring she has demonstrated what she is capable of. She has lightning-quick dribbles, takes wicked set pieces with her right foot and has a distinctive and effective running style that makes her stand out.
Snerle is not the tallest player but it is very difficult to take the ball off her and Rikke Marie Madsen is just one Denmark player happy to see her return to the fold. “It is awesome to have her back – she always comes with a great energy and is ready to give her everything.”
Janni Thomsen
Date of birth: 16/02/2000
Club: Vålerenga
Plays on the right with a dangerous right foot. Likes to dribble but is very good at taking on defensive responsibilities too, meaning she can be used as a winger, wing-back and full-back. Named player of the season in Norway’s top-flight Toppserien in 2022, Thomsen renewed her contract until 2025.
“The club’s ambition is to go far in the Champions League and in the league – and that is what I want too. I want to win medals,” she told TV 2 Norge upon renewing. A graduated nutritionist, she is also keen on DIY, spending a large part of her free time renovating her apartment in Oslo.
Rikke Marie Madsen
Date of birth: 09/08/1997
Club: North Carolina Courage
Back at North Carolina Courage after a loan with Melbourne Victory, she will be looking forward to returning to Australia for this World Cup. Has had some trouble settling since leaving Vålerenga in 2021, staying just one season at Madrid CFF before the switch to NWSL.
Celebrated her first international goal with a series of backflips and off the pitch you can always find her with a contagious smile. She has pace and great work rate and always tries to find gaps behind the opposition defence. Never really thought about playing for the national team before she got the call from Lars Søndergaard. She admitted when she first got the call-up she had a Bacardi Breezer in her hand and was celebrating the last domestic game in 2018.
Karen Holmgaard
Date of birth: 28/06/1999
Club: Everton
Having had a great first season at Everton Holmgaard is ready to take the World Cup by storm. The strong, left-footed central midfielder has great vision and is very composed on the ball. An expert at arriving late in the penalty area with good timing, she is a threat on set pieces and loves to put in a good tackle.
Has played with her twin sister, Sara, throughout her career apart from a four-month spell last season when Sara went on loan from Everton to Fortuna Hjørring. Karen cites Sara as the person who has had the biggest impact on her positive attitude towards football and told the Guardian: “We just enjoy being here [at Everton] together, it’s something special.”
Kathrine Møller Kühl
Date of birth: 05/07/2003
Club: Arsenal
One of the most talented players of her generation Kühl – or ”Ke” as she is known – has had more playing time than expected since joining Arsenal in the winter because of injuries to key players, such as one of Kühl’s heroes, Kim Little. “I can see that I am improving every day in training,” she told DR. ”At Arsenal I train with some of the best players in the world and they push me forward every day.”
Has always seemed destined for great things and was named best player of the game at the age of 16 when FCN won the Danish Cup and won her first cap a year later. When coming on against Spain to win her third cap, she wasted no time in getting on the ball and leaving Alexia Putellas behind her with a slick turn, in a game where Denmark had seen very little possession. She has world-class technique and vision, and is not afraid to use it. After making her Denmark debut against Wales she said: “I had to hit myself three times on the head to understand that it had really happened.”
Sanne Troelsgaard
Date of birth: 15/08/1988
Club: Reading
Troelsgaard is, by her own admission, “not a normal professional football player”. Instead of winding down after training – perhaps by watching some Netflix, like her teammates – the midfielder gets straight back to work on what she describes as her “online coaching universe”: that is her own company, Troelsgaard Fitness, set up during the pandemic. She is one of the most experienced and fit players in the game and admits: “I’m addicted to training.” Started playing at the age of six and has, at the time of writing, 176 caps and 55 goals for the national team.
At newly relegated Reading, the versatile midfielder is known for her array of pre-match rituals. She is fiercely competitive and once got so angry at training with Brøndby that she stormed off the pitch and drove back to her family in Vejen – two and a half hours away. Troelsgaard is a family person, and she is especially close to her twin sister and former footballer Lotte. Her football-loving dad passed away from cancer just before the 2013 Euros and every time she scores a goal she points to the sky with the message: “He is always with me on the pitch.”
Sofie Svava
Date of birth: 11/08/2000
Club: Real Madrid
Still only 22 years old, Svava is a rarity in women’s football in that she has already been transferred three times for money, the move to Spain reportedly making her one of the most expensive players to join the Liga F.
The move to Spanish capital came after only a year at Wolfsburg and she has adapted well to playing at the famous club, becoming a regular starter in her first season. She can pretty much run up and down the left-hand side for hours on end, whipping in crosses with her dangerous left food. Technically gifted and with a lot of flair in her game, Svava will always try to take on her opponents in one-on-one situations.
Sofie Junge Pedersen
Date of birth: 24/04/1992
Club:
Last summer, upon starting her final season at Juventus, Junge decided to change her number from 14 to 2 to create awareness on climate change “We need everyone to work together and stop further climate and environmental changes,” she said as she joined the We Play Green initiative.
Junge is also doing volunteering work in Africa and especially in Ghana, where she is involved in the development of football: “I’ve always been interested in the development of Africa and that’s what I want to do when I finish playing.” She used to wear a protective headband after suffering a serious concussion, which almost ended her career. Pedersen has a great engine and is a fighter in central midfield for club and country.
Josefine Hasbo
Date of birth: 20/11/2001
Club: Harvard University
Talk about a girl who can do it all. For a long time, this central midfielder owned Kvindeligaen with her no-nonsense playing style while staying on top of her game in school as well. Now studying at one of the most prestigious universities in the world she combines being an intelligent footballer with being an intelligent student.
“It is a bit strange that I need to bring my microeconomics book with me in camp, but that is the balance I have to find,” she said while playing the Tournoi de France this winter. The 1.58m tall midfielder has had her breakthrough with the national team this year and is now a trusted part of Lars Søndergaard´s squad.
Forwards
Mille Gejl
Date of birth: 23/09/1999
Club: North Carolina Courage
Arrives at the World Cup an experience richer, having joined fellow Dane Rikke Marie Madsen at North Carolina Courage in January after 18 months in Sweden with Häcken, where she won the title in 2021. Gejl loves a golazo, but even she could barely believe what she had done after scoring a long-range screamer against Russia in a World Cup qualifier in December 2021.
It was rightly named the Goal of the Year in women’s football. She can operate as a No10 or on the wing but wherever she will play she is likely to try that wicked shot of hers. Her surname can be interpreted as going a bit crazy and was included in the official Danish song for Euro 2022 with the line “ You need to Gejl out”. “Quite a few people have been in touch,” she said when it was released. “They look forward to singing along to it.”
Pernille Harder
Date of birth: 15/11/1992
Club: Bayern Munich
The undisputed star of the team, and one of the best footballers in the world, Harder is preparing for a new challenge with Bayern Munich after three years – and three league and FA Cup doubles – at Chelsea. “FC Bayern is a terrific club, the players and the team have a lot of potential. I definitely wanted to become a part of it,” Harder said upon joining.
Two times Uefa Player of the Year, Player of the Year in Germany as the first foreigner, seven times Player of the Year in Denmark and the highest scoring player ever for her country. She is also a Ballon d’Or runner-up and twice the winner of the Guardian’s top 100 female footballers in the world. Missed six months of the 2022-23 season but was at her best when she returned with five goals and three assists in May alone.
Signe Bruun
Date of birth: 06/09/1998
Club: Free agent
A tremendously talented player who has had her fair share of injury problems, she is looking for a new club after her spell at Lyon came to an end. She loves to score goals, and she is pretty good at it as well. At youth level she once scored eight goals in a game for the Danish Under-17 side and for the national team she bagged five against Bosnia and Herzegovina in a World Cup qualifier.
Moved away from her family at the age of 16 to play for Fortuna Hjørring and then learned French while playing for PSG and Lyon. And while she struggled for playing time at both the French clubs as well as during a loan stint at Manchester United, she finished her spell with Lyon by scoring the match-winning goal in the title decider against her former club PSG.
Amalie Jørgensen Vangsgaard
Date of birth: 29/11/1996
Club: Paris St-Germain
If you had told Vangsgaard four years ago that by now she would have won the Danish Cup with FCN, being named Forward of the Year as well as being the topscorer in Swedish top-flight Damallsvenskan in 2022, played her first game for Denmark, joined Paris St-Germain and been included in the World Cup squad she would have laughed.
Especially as she actually quit the game for two and a half years from 2016 onwards. A call from FC Nordsjælland and the now Everton coach Brian Sørensen, however, got her back on the pitch in 2019 and the rest is history for Vangsgaard.
Nicoline Sørensen
Date of birth: 15/08/1997
Club: Everton
A devastating ACL-injury in the autumn of 2021 kept this talented winger out of the game for 435 days after multiple operations. She told DR; “When I look back, I am happy that I did not know what I had to go through because I am not sure that I would have been able to do it.”
Now back in excellent form Sørensen is set to play a very important role for this Danish team with her speed, skill and precise crosses. When not playing football at elite level she has been studying and got her bachelor’s degree in engineering in Process and Innovation this summer.
Written by Sofie Engberg Munch (TV 2 Denmark) for the Guardian.
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