Hjulmand misses World Cup: Sporting captain out on pens in Czechia | OneFootball

In a game to secure a place at the 2026 World Cup, this Tuesday, the Denmark national team did not do enough, losing to Czechia on penalties after a 2-2 draw following extra time. Morten Hjulmand - whose future is being decided by Sporting - started, alongside Victor Froholdt and Alexander Bah.

After four minutes, following a corner for Czechia, the Danish defence failed to clear the ball, which ended up falling to Pavel Sulc on the edge of the box, and he made no mistake to open the scoring.

In the very next minute, Victor Froholdt had a clear chance, but goalkeeper Matej Kovár came out on top. Denmark kept trying to create scoring opportunities, through Rasmus Hojlund and Gustav Isaksen, but the home side's goalkeeper managed to stop every attempt, keeping Czechia narrowly ahead until half-time.

In the second half, Denmark took control of the game and equalised in the 72nd minute. From a wide free-kick taken by Mikkel Damsgaard, Joachim Andersen rose above the Czech defence and restored parity, a scoreline that remained unchanged until the end of normal time.

In extra time, a major misunderstanding in the Danish box after a cross left the ball at the feet of Ladislav Krejcí, who fired it into the back of the net, with a deflection off Alexander Bah.

In the second half of extra time, Kasper Hogh, a Bodø/Glimt forward, rose highest from a corner and restored parity, taking the match to a penalty shootout.

In the penalty shootout, the Czechs came out on top after Rasmus Hojlund hit the bar, Andreas Dreyer saw his effort saved by the Czech goalkeeper, and Mathias Jensen missed the target. For the home side, only Ladislav Krejcí failed to convert his penalty.

With this result, Czechia secure their ninth appearance at the World Cup, the last one having come 20 years ago, in 2006, in Germany. The team will join Group A alongside South Africa, Mexico and South Korea.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.