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Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen suffered a major health scare during his country's friendly match against Ukraine on Sunday as he collapsed on the field while clutching his heart.
The 34-year-old fell to the ground in the 64th minute of the match, with Denmark leading 2-1 at the time. Medical staff rushed onto the pitch to give Eriksen assistance, while players gathered around him to shield the scene from television or smartphone cameras. The game was called off after some time.
Eriksen was taken to hospital in Odense following the incident. Denmark's football federation later informed that Eriksen had gained consciousness and was doing well. “Christian Eriksen is conscious and is doing well under the circumstances,” the federation said in a statement on X.
“Christian is doing well and walked off the pitch by himself. As I see it, the pacemaker responded as it should. He was briefly unconscious, but regained consciousness very quickly, and we were quickly in contact with him. He will now undergo further examinations at the hospital to determine what caused the incident,” Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen told BBC.
The incident revived memories of 2020 European Championships when Eriksen had suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field during Denmark's match against Finland. The 34-year-old has worn a pacemaker on his heart since then.
Eriksen was sidelined for more than half-a-year after the incident in 2021 and resumed his career seven months later at Brentford in the Premier League. He joined Manchester United later and won the FA Cup and League Cup with the club. The 34-year-old playmaker currently plays for Wolfsburg in Germany, where he has another year to run on his contract.
He also returned to the Danish team soon and played both the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Euro 2024 in Germany.
Denmark have not qualified for the World Cup in North America, which starts next week and Ukraine too have missed the 48-team tournament.
The 34-year-old fell to the ground in the 64th minute of the match, with Denmark leading 2-1 at the time. Medical staff rushed onto the pitch to give Eriksen assistance, while players gathered around him to shield the scene from television or smartphone cameras. The game was called off after some time.
Eriksen has gained consciousness
Eriksen was taken to hospital in Odense following the incident. Denmark's football federation later informed that Eriksen had gained consciousness and was doing well. “Christian Eriksen is conscious and is doing well under the circumstances,” the federation said in a statement on X.
I hope he considers retirement after this incident, so sad man❤️🙏 pic.twitter.com/hcypvjPJjY
— Kai (@katrinahkai) June 7, 2026
“Christian is doing well and walked off the pitch by himself. As I see it, the pacemaker responded as it should. He was briefly unconscious, but regained consciousness very quickly, and we were quickly in contact with him. He will now undergo further examinations at the hospital to determine what caused the incident,” Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen told BBC.
The incident revived memories of 2020 European Championships when Eriksen had suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field during Denmark's match against Finland. The 34-year-old has worn a pacemaker on his heart since then.
Eriksen was sidelined for more than half-a-year after the incident in 2021 and resumed his career seven months later at Brentford in the Premier League. He joined Manchester United later and won the FA Cup and League Cup with the club. The 34-year-old playmaker currently plays for Wolfsburg in Germany, where he has another year to run on his contract.
He also returned to the Danish team soon and played both the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Euro 2024 in Germany.
Denmark have not qualified for the World Cup in North America, which starts next week and Ukraine too have missed the 48-team tournament.
