England was fined £25,000 last time they played Denmark for bizarre on-pitch moment
England beat Denmark, but had to pay a price
After a competent if generally unexciting win over Serbia to open their Euros 2024 campaign, England will face Denmark on Thursday (20 June).
Of course there's nothing wrong with not being scintillating from the first minute of the competition, plenty will tell you that the team which goes on to win it ramps up their performances in the knockout stages.
Obviously this means it's coming home for England, but before then they've got to play their remaining group games against Denmark and Slovakia.
Last time England played against Denmark was in the semi-finals of Euro 2020.
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Since the pandemic rather threw a wrench into sporting plans, the game was played in 2021 instead, and in regular time played out to a 1-1 draw before a Harry Kane goal in extra time put England through to the final.
Sadly we know what happened next as the final against Italy finished 1-1 before England were defeated on penalties, but we still believe it's coming home.
Still, last time England went up against Denmark they received a £25,000 fine for some rather dishonourable behaviour.
The FA ended up being fined for a trio of incidents which one hopes will not be repeated during Thursday's game.
Disappointingly, a fan in the Wembley stands shone a laser pointer into the eyes of Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel as he lined up to face Harry Kane at the penalty spot.
Schmeichel was able to save the penalty but Kane scored the rebound to send England through to the final, though a light being shone in the keeper's eyes from the stands is a dirty and deplorable trick.
The Danish keeper had noticed it throughout the game, saying after the match that he'd alerted the match officials that someone in the stands was attempting to distract him.
The booing of the Danish national anthem and some fans setting off fireworks rounded out the trio of charges, which resulted in the FA having to cough up £25,630.
Meanwhile, something that's been noticed about some England players is that they've cut holes in their socks.
This isn't some fashion trend like pre-torn jeans or anything, it's meant to help relieve pressure on their muscles.
Apparently tight fitting socks can put a lot of pressure on the leg muscles which get a real workout during a game of football, so cutting holes allows for free movement and reduces injury risk.
It's coming home, thanks to proper sock maintenance.
Joe Harker