With Germany already guaranteed top spot in Group B, Denmark Women and Spain Women will battle it out on Saturday for second position and a place in the Women’s Euro 2022 quarter-finals.
Denmark know that they need to win to finish in the top two, while a draw would be enough for Spain to progress to the quarter-finals where England await.
After reaching the final at Euro 2017, Denmark are at risk of being eliminated in the group stage this time around.
They began their campaign with a 4-0 defeat against Germany before beating Finland 1-0 on Tuesday to pick up their first points of the tournament.
Finland looked set to hold Denmark to draw, however, a 72nd-minute effort from Pernille Harder ensured that Denmark head into the final group match level on points with Spain.
Although the first tie-breaker will be based on the head-to-head result, if Denmark draw with Spain on Saturday then second place will be decided by goal difference.
With Denmark’s goal difference inferior to Spain’s, Lars Sondergaard knows that only a win will do if they are to reach the knockout rounds for the third consecutive European championships.
Spain began Euro 2022 with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Finland, but they were unable to build upon that victory against Germany.
First half goals from Klara Buhl and Alex Popp condemned Spain to a 2-0 defeat on Tuesday, and while the result confirmed Germany’s progression to the quarter-finals, Jorge Vilda’s side still have to pick up at least one point in their final group game.
The defeat to Germany represented the first time that Spain had lost since March 2020, with the result ending a 24-game unbeaten run.
Like Saturday’s opponents, Spain are also aiming to reach the European Championship knockout rounds for a third consecutive tournament after being eliminated at the quarter-final stage in 2013 and 2017.
Ahead of the final group game, Spain can take confidence from the 3-0 win that they recorded in the most recent meeting with Denmark, which took place last summer.
Denmark Women Women’s European Championship form:
LW
Denmark Women form (all competitions):
WWWLLW
Spain Women Women’s European Championship form:
WL
Spain Women form (all competitions):
DWWDWL
We say: Denmark Women 1-2 Spain Women
With so much to play for, we expect Saturday’s game to be a cagey contest, but we think Spain have enough quality in their squad to edge out Denmark in the final group game to secure their place in the quarter-finals.