No, it’s not (as the headline might suggest) the draw for the 2019 Women’s World Cup – that won’t be made until December 8.
This was the draw for the UEFA playoffs involving the four best second-placed teams, and Denmark got the worst draw imaginable.
To qualify for next year’s World Cup (June 7-July 7) in France, Denmark will need to first get the better of the Netherlands, the very team that ended its dreams of European Championship glory in a hard-fought final last year, before facing the winner of Switzerland vs Belgium.
Sinking feeling
The European champions stood alongside Belgium and Switzerland in the draw, and Denmark had been nervously hoping it would avoid them.
“We were hoping for Belgium,” head coach Lars Søndergaard confessed to media. “We have lost to the Netherlands quite a few times now.”
But do the women’s side only have themselves to blame. Despite forfeiting their away trip to Sweden due to a strike last year, they performed well in qualifying and only need to beat the ‘old enemy’ at home on Tuesday to qualify.
A 0-1 loss, though, snuffed out their dreams, and now they have their worst nightmare.
Denmark will face the Netherlands in October (ties unconfirmed), with the final games scheduled for November 5 and 8.
