ODENSE, Denmark (AP) — Christian Eriksen was conscious and undergoing further tests in the hospital after collapsing on the field again while playing for Denmark’s national team, the country’s soccer federation said Sunday.
In a scary scene that had echoes of Eriksen's on-field collapse following a cardiac arrest during the European Championship in 2021, TV images showed the 34-year-old midfielder clutching his chest with both hands in an off-the-ball
action in the 65th minute of Denmark’s international friendly against Ukraine at Nature Energy Park in Odense.
In the next TV image shown, Erikson was on the ground, surrounded by worried-looking players. Ukraine's coaching staff were seen waving medical personnel onto the field.
The match was later abandoned.
Minutes later, the Danish federation sent a post on X saying Eriksen was “conscious and, under the circumstances, doing well.”
In a fuller statement posted 10 minutes later, Denmark team physician Morten Boesen said: “Christian is doing well and left the field himself. As I see it, the pacemaker is beating as it should."
After saying Eriksen was briefly unconscious, Boesen added in the statement that he "very quickly regained consciousness, and we were quickly in contact with him.
“Now he needs to be examined further in the hospital to find out what caused the incident,” Boesen added.
“We are in constant contact with him and the doctors at the hospital. But Christian is doing well, and he asked me to greet all the players and say that he was OK.”
The match was officially called off by the referee in the 79th minute — with Denmark leading 2-1 — after he spoke to both coaches and sets of players. While Eriksen was being treated, there was initially a hush in the crowd before a chant of “Eriksen, Eriksen” went around the stadium.
After the match was abandoned, players from both teams formed a circle around the two coaches in one half of the field. The coaches were seen talking to the players. The teams then walked around the field to applause from the crowd, with some players visibly upset.
Eriksen's collapse during Denmark’s opening European Championship group game in 2021, against Finland in Copenhagen, sent soccer into shock. Eriksen, one of Denmark's greatest ever players, was given lengthy medical treatment before regaining consciousness and said he was later informed he was “gone from this world for five minutes.”
Eriksen resumed his professional playing career 259 days later after being fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.
He played for Brentford and Manchester United before joining German club Wolfsburg in 2025. He has a contract with Wolfsburg until the end of the 2026-27 season.
Neither Denmark nor Ukraine have qualified for the World Cup.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
