Christian Eriksen collapsed during Denmark’s friendly against Ukraine but was conscious, sad the Danish Football Association.
The game in Odense was stopped on 65 minutes when he collapsed and abandoned shortly after, with the 34-year-old able to walk from the field.
The former Manchester United and Tottenham midfielder was fitted with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) – a type of pacemaker – after suffering a cardiac arrest during a Euro 2020 match against Finland in 2021.
“Christian is doing well and walked off the pitch by himself,” said Denmark’s national team doctor Morten Boesen.
“As I see it, the pacemaker responded as it should. He was briefly unconscious, but regained consciousness very quickly, and we were quickly in contact with him.
“He will now undergo further examinations at the hospital to determine what caused the incident.”
The ICD allowed Eriksen to resume his playing career with Brentford in 2022 – eight months after his collapse at the Euros – before he spent three years with Manchester United.
After joining Wolfsburg last summer, he played 34 games for the German Bundesliga club during the 2025-26 season and was making his 151st international appearance for Denmark when he collapsed.
“We are in ongoing contact with him and the doctors at the hospital,” Boesen added.
“But Christian is doing well, and he asked me to send his regards to all the players and tell them that he was OK.”
Denmark captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, also an ex-Tottenham midfieder, told Danish broadcaster TV2: “There’s a throw-in, and then I go out to the side. I turn around a bit, and I see Christian on his way to the floor, and we know a little about how he reacts, what that means.
“[Everyone] reacted super-fast and with respect. I can only compliment how much courage those who took care of Christian on the field had.
“I can’t say much more than that you get a shock, and that the most important thing is that Christian is doing well.”
When Eriksen was receiving treatment five years ago, Denmark and Finland players formed a ring around him, and both sets of players did the same while he was being attended to by medics on Sunday. He was eventually able to walk to an ambulance.
After the game had been called off, players and coaching staff from both teams stood arm in arm in a ring as they were addressed by Denmark coach Brian Riemer.
“The most important thing is that Christian is doing well and he is,” Riemer said later. “He has left the field, and he has sent his regards to the players.
“Now it’s about us standing together, as you could see that we did in the most dignified way on the field, and of course ensuring that everyone has a shoulder to lean on from here.”
Speaking to BBC Sport before his comeback in 2022 Eriksen said he had no concerns about playing with an ICD.
“I don’t see any risk, no. I have an ICD, if anything would happen then I am safe,” he said.
“I don’t really have any scared feelings about it, I don’t feel my ICD so if it gets hit I know it is safe enough.”
Neither Denmark or Ukraine qualified for the World Cup, which begins on Thursday.
By BBC Sports
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