Denmark defeats Republic of Ireland in European qualifier for 2018 FIFA World Cup

2018 World Cup will be their first appearance since 2010 South Africa.

Ireland vs Denmark
Ireland vs Denmark Reuters

Denmark has secured their place in 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia after a victory over the Republic of Ireland in the European qualifier match by 5-1 aggregate on 14 November, Tuesday.

The European team, who failed to qualify for the 2014 Brazil World Cup, had scored five goals in the second leg of the play-off against the Irish team at Aviva Stadium in Dublin and sealed Europe's final qualification spot. It will be their first appearance in FIFA World Cup since 2010.

While in the sixth minute of the play-off match, Irish ace Shane Duffy scored the first goal and gave the 1-0 lead to Ireland, teammate Cyrus Christie's own goal in the 29th minute equalized the score.

Later the visitors of the second leg started to dominate the game, as Christian Eriksen led the team with a hat-trick. After scoring the third goal in the 73rd minute, the Tottenham Hotspur ace Eriksen set a record of 11 goals in the World Cup qualifier for his country.

Finally, the goal which put nails in the coffin of Ireland's World Cup dreams came after the penalty kick by the 29-year-old Nicklas Bendtner.

According to the World Cup history of Denmark, they were featured in 1986 Mexico, 1998 France and 2002 Korea/Japan, including 2010 South Africa World Cup.

However, in 1998, they achieved the best results in France where they finished at the eighth position after being defeated by Brazil in a quarter-final match.

On the other hand, according to The Irish Sun, the devastated Irish winger James McClean gave an interview to RTE's Tony O'Donoghue and said, "I don't know what to say. We shot ourselves, I mean we got a good start... I don't know what to say.

"I'm devastated not just for us but for everyone, I think maybe the occasion, I don't know. Maybe they were just better," said the 28-year-old McClean.

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