Finland welcome their Nordic neighbors to the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki for Sunday's match, with both teams looking to boost their Euro 2024 qualifying prospects. Hosts Finland maintained their two-point lead at the top of Group H with a 1-0 win over Kazakhstan on Thursday, while visitors Denmark thrashed San Marino 4-0 in their last match.
Entenmann's 78th-minute goal helped Finland secure three points in Kazakhstan. The 22-year-old midfielder finished off a striking team effort to keep Finland at the top of Group H after five games. Finland have now won four consecutive UEFA Euro qualifiers without conceding a goal, a run of four wins that includes narrow victories over Northern Ireland and Slovenia, as well as a 6-0 thrashing of San Marino in June.
In fact, Finland's only defeat in this tournament came in the opener against Denmark, when Manchester United rookie Rasmus Hojlund scored a hat-trick in the opening round at the Parken Stadium.
Since then, however, Finland have won four games in a row, scoring 10 goals and keeping four clean sheets, meaning Kanneva's side are two points clear of Denmark and Slovenia in Group H, with Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland and San Marino trailing.
Finland managed to qualify for their first European Championship last time out, and despite not making it out of the group stage in their last tournament, they scored a stunning victory against Denmark on the field.
Like most national teams, Denmark won comfortably against San Marino on Thursday, picking up 86 percent of the possession and 32 shots on goal while limiting the minnows to just one shot on target, with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Joakim Maeler, Jonas Wind and Yussuf Poulsen picking up the points.
The hosts took a 3-0 lead inside 40 minutes before slamming on the brakes in the second half, but Yusuf Poulsen still had plenty of time to come off the bench and complete a 4-0 thrashing for his side.
After a 3-1 win in their opening match against Finland, Denmark suffered a shock 3-2 loss in Kazakhstan, with three goals in the final 17 minutes offsetting Højlund's first-half double at the Astana Arena.
After beating Northern Ireland 1-0, Kasper Hülmann's side were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Slovenia, albeit a game in which Denmark should have, and probably would have, taken all three points, as they had 63% possession and 10 shots on target.
Nonetheless, the Red and Whites are still on course to progress to Euro 2024 as they have won 10 of a possible 15 points so far and will leapfrog to the top of Group H if they record their second consecutive win against Finland on Sunday.
Considering the above match scenario and the form of the two teams, it is predicted that Finland and Denmark will shake hands 1-1 in this match. Despite Denmark's 3-1 advantage in the first meeting, Finland has won four consecutive matches without a shutout since then.
As a result, we expect Finland to thwart Denmark in this tournament, and the Nordic neighbors may share the spoils in Helsinki.
