Eriksen collapses during Denmark friendly but walks off pitch as pacemaker activates

Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch during Denmark’s friendly against Ukraine in Odense on Sunday, halting the match in the 64th minute and reducing team-mates to tears before the midfielder was able to walk off under his own power.

Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen confirmed that Eriksen’s pacemaker had activated as designed. “Christian is doing well and walked off the pitch himself,” Boesen said. “As I see it, the pacemaker gave a shock, as it is supposed to. He was briefly out, but regained consciousness very quickly, and we were quickly in contact with him.”

Eriksen appeared to clutch his chest before falling to the ground, prompting immediate treatment from medical staff. The scenes drew inevitable comparisons to the cardiac arrest he suffered during a Denmark match at Euro 2020 five years ago — an incident that required prolonged on-pitch resuscitation and led to him being fitted with the pacemaker that intervened on Sunday.

Boesen added that further tests would be carried out at hospital to establish what triggered the episode. “Now he needs to be examined further at the hospital to find out what caused the incident. We are continuously in contact with him and the doctors at the hospital. But Christian is doing well, and he asked me to say hello to all the players and say that he was okay.”

The Danish FA issued a brief statement confirming Eriksen was conscious and the match had been called off. The 33-year-old, who has played for Manchester United and Brentford since returning to professional football following his 2021 cardiac arrest, was transferred to hospital for evaluation.