Christian Wenande
June 3rd, 2018

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Injury helped derail Bendtner’s World Cup hope (photo: Кирилл Венедиктов)

Åge Hareide made his final four cuts to the Danish team ahead of the World Cup in Russia.

Nicklas Bendtner, Andreas Bjelland, Mike Jensen and Peter Ankersen are the four players to fall at the final 23-player hurdle – the omissions of Bendtner and Bjelland most probably due to their struggles with injury.

The news will be a bitter pill to swallow for Bendtner’s fans, who were recently buoyed by news that a petition had been launched to pressure FIFA into postponing the tournament to allow ‘The Lord’ to recover from injury and participate.

READ MORE: Petition calls for FIFA to postpone World Cup for injured Nicklas Bendtner

The final 23
While it was no surprise that Jensen and Ankersen failed to make the final cut, Bjelland’s omission is also a surprise considering the considerable role he played in Denmark’s qualification. Ultimately, however, injury proved to be his undoing.

None of the four players saw the field in Denmark’s 0-0 draw with Sweden in Stockholm last night.

The Danes take on Mexico in a final friendly on Saturday, before meeting Peru in their first game in Russia on June 16.

Denmark’s 23-player squad for the World Cup is:

Kasper Schmeichel, Leicester
Jonas Lössl, Huddersfield Town
Frederik Rønnow, Brøndby

Simon Kjær, Sevilla
Andreas Christensen, Chelsea
Mathias Zanka Jørgensen, Huddersfield Town
Jannik Vestergaard, Borussia Mönchengladbach
Henrik Dalsgaard, Brentford
Jens Stryger, Udinese
Jonas Knudsen, Ipswich Town

William Kvist, FC København
Thomas Delaney, Werder Bremen
Lukas Lerager, Bordeaux
Lasse Schöne, Ajax
Christian Eriksen, Tottenham Hotspur
Michael Krohn-Dehli, Deportivo La Coruna

Pione Sisto, Celta Vigo
Martin Braithwaite, Bordeaux
Andreas Cornelius, Atalanta
Viktor Fischer, FC København
Yussuf Poulsen, RB Leipzig
Nicolai Jørgensen, Feyenoord
Kasper Dolberg, Ajax

It features just three players from the Danish Superliga.