Denmark 1-0 Portugal: Late Hojlund strike earns slender first-leg advantage

Rasmus Hojlund came off the bench to secure Denmark a 1-0 win over Portugal in the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final on Thursday.

Hojlund linked up with fellow substitute Andreas Skov Olsen to give Denmark the advantage, making up for Christian Eriksen’s first-half penalty miss.

Denmark started brightly, and Mika Biereth forced an early mistake as he charged down Diogo Costa’s attempted long ball. The goalkeeper recovered well, though, scrambling back to turn the ball wide for a corner.

Kasper Schmeichel denied Pedro Neto with a fine save moments later, but the clearest opening came in the 23rd minute as Renato Veiga was penalised for a handball in the box.

Eriksen stepped up to the spot, but his was a poor strike, with Costa comfortably getting across to his right to keep it out.

Biereth forced another great save out of Costa 10 minutes before the break, meeting a bouncing cross on the half-turn but seeing the goalkeeper react to tip it wide.

Denmark kept the pressure on in the second half, with Gustav Isaksen’s drive tipped just wide by a sprawling Costa before Hojlund fizzed a low shot just past the far post.

Hojlund hit the mark moments later, though. Denmark cut Portugal open with one-touch passes, and the Manchester United forward was unmarked in the middle to guide Skov Olsen’s cross into the bottom-right corner.

Det blev en af de aftener

Med sejren i bagagen tager vi til Lissabon med en tro på tingene og drømmen om Final Four

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— Fodboldlandsholdene (@dbulandshold) March 20, 2025

Data Debrief: Hojlund finds his scoring touch

Hojlund had not scored since early December before hitting the back of the net in United’s last game against Leicester City, and he has now scored two goals in his last two appearances.

He came on in the 69th minute and had two Opta-defined big chances, more than anyone else on the pitch.

Denmark were led by his United team-mate, though. Eriksen may have missed his penalty, but he had the most shots (seven), shots on target (three) and touches in the box (eight) of anyone in the game. His chances were worth a combined 1.29 expected goals (xG), more than all of Portugal’s attempts combined (0.51 xG).