Christian Eriksen collapsed again during Denmark vs Ukraine friendly - pacemaker activated

[Gaz90]

Christian Eriksen collapsed for the second time in his career during Denmark's World Cup warm-up friendly against Ukraine at Nature Energy Park in Odense on Sunday June 7. The 34-year-old VfL Wolfsburg midfielder clutched his chest with both hands in the 64th minute and went down. Players from both teams immediately formed a protective ring around him as medics attended on the pitch. The match was abandoned.

Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen confirmed the pacemaker Eriksen has worn since his cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 delivered a shock and functioned as intended. Eriksen regained consciousness quickly and insisted on walking to the ambulance himself. On Monday June 8 Boesen confirmed Eriksen was in good spirits, with his family, and expected to be discharged from Odense University Hospital shortly.

Eriksen suffered a full cardiac arrest against Finland at Euro 2020 in Copenhagen in June 2021. He was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and made a remarkable return to professional football, scoring at Euro 2024 and playing every minute of the 2022 World Cup.

Denmark's Christian Eriksen collapses on football pitch during friendly

https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/6/7/denmarks-christian-eriksen-collapses-during-world-cup-warm-up-match

[StringTheory97]

The speed with which the pacemaker activated and he regained consciousness is the device working exactly as designed. Without it in 2021 we would have lost him on the pitch. Without it again on Sunday the outcome could have been the same

[EdgeRatedR86]

Watching the footage of the other players forming a ring around him immediately - that instinct from his teammates is the thing that gets me every time. They learned from 2021 and everyone knew exactly what to do

[Gary98]

Denmark were already not going to be at the World Cup. They failed to qualify. But the entire Danish football nation and football in general will be thinking of him right now. His return to the sport after 2021 was one of the most remarkable stories in the game's history

[TeaAndCode72]

He walked to the ambulance himself. After two cardiac events in five years he walked from the pitch. I genuinely do not know how you process that as a player, a family member, or as someone watching

[StuckOnDestiny]

The conversation about whether he should continue playing professional football at 34 with a history of two cardiac events is an uncomfortable one but it is unavoidable now. That has to be a decision made with the best cardiologists in Europe and it cannot be rushed

[GlassKnight89]

Fabrice Muamba tweeted in 2021 when Eriksen first collapsed. Muamba himself suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch in 2012 and never played again. The fact that Eriksen came back and played at the level he did is extraordinary. Whatever happens next, that chapter of his career stands alone