Wales vs. Denmark – European Championship (June 26, 2021)

After two weeks of action, Euro 2020 reaches the knockout rounds, with Wales and Denmark starting things off at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam. This looks like being a close affair, with both teams finishing second in their respective groups.

Emotions are high in the Denmark squad after the incident involving Christian Eriksen in the opening game against Finland. But the players look inspired if anything – and Wales will need to be on top form if it is to replicate its performance at Euro 2016.

Wales struggled in the heat of Baku for the majority of its first game of Euro 2020 against Switzerland. But Kieffer Moore headed an equalizer with around a quarter of an hour to go to salvage a point. The impressive win over Turkey four days later was the team’s highlight of the tournament so far, as Ramsey and Bale combined beautifully.

Playing Italy in Rome in the final game was always going to be tough – and, with qualification assured, a narrow defeat should be regarded as an acceptable result. But Ethan Ampadu will miss the Denmark game after receiving a red card in the Stadio Olimpico. Although he has been sparingly used so far, Wales will miss the versatile cover he provides.

It is questionable whether Denmark’s game against Finland should even have resumed after Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch. But, with the players not given much of a choice by UEFA, the unexpected defeat gave the Danes a mountain to climb as far as qualification went.

Another loss to Belgium in the second game made that task even harder. But the narrow nature of the defeat suggested that the squad had really come together after the shocking scenes just days before.

That emotion and determination really showed in the final game when Russia was blown away by the spirit of the players and the crowd in Copenhagen. It will need to harness that power now to take to Amsterdam as it prepares to take on Wales on Saturday.

With the potential of having at least some fans in attendance, Denmark has been made the favourite for the round of 16 opener on Saturday. I think the teams are far more level than these prices from BetOnline suggest though – and am surprised that the Danes are odds on to win the game in 90 minutes.

Wales has a squad that play together – and for each other – more than most and also has two very special talents in Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. I feel as though that this game will be much closer than the bookmakers have made out.

This will be a huge battle between two sets of players that seem bound by togetherness and team spirit. Wales showed in 2016 how far that can take an unfancied side – and Denmark proved the point once again in its final group game against Russia.

It will be interesting to see how the two teams line up, as they can both adapt to different opponents – and it could be the one that decides to take more risks going forward that is ultimately successful. This will be a very close game though and, with these odds, I feel that the draw bet offers the most value.