World Cup European Qualifiers: Joakim Maehle scores a decisive goal, booking Denmark a place at World Cup 2022

The goal of Maehle in the win against Austria on Tuesday helped Denmark to become the second European team to qualify for the next year’s World Cup. In addition, the Red and White are also holding a record of being the only ones who won 8 straight games in this European qualification.

By: Harry Siuu

10/12/2021 22:07

Denmark 1-0 Austria

At 2:30 pm (ET) on October 12, 2021, the anticipated match between Denmark and Austria took place. Both teams played hard and aggressively until the last minute. Despite their flair and attacking potential, the Danish men looked a bit jittery for long spells against a well-organized Austria side who isolated their midfield to cut off the supply routes.

Visiting goalie Daniel Bachmann saved Austria from strikes of Andreas Skov Olsen and Mikkel Damsgaard in the first half and then denied a Thomas Delaney effort in the 48th minute as the home team struggled to create clear-cut chances. However, just 5 minutes later, the Austrian hero could not successfully save his domain when Denmark’s best moment of the match finally came. Midfielder Thomas Delaney weaved his way past four markers through the middle of the pitch then teed up Joakim Maehle to kick his shot from eight meters inside the near post and delight the home fans at Parken stadium.

Joakim Maehle scores the only goal for Denmark against Austria

Both teams still played tenaciously in the second half but no other goals were made. The final score was 1-0 for the home team. The decisive goal of Maehle and the effort of the whole team helped Denmark to get 3 completed points after the game.

Reviews after the match

Denmark finally became the winning team with perfect 24 points after their 8 straight wins to stay the top of qualifying Group F. They are now 7-point ahead of second-ranked Scotland. Meanwhile, Austria stand the 4th with 10 points.

After Germany became the first team joining Qatar on Monday, the Danes secured their own berth with two games to spare when a 53rd-minute goal from Joakim Maehle helped them to a successive qualifying victory. According to the World Cup regulation, only the group winners from European qualifying advance directly while the groups’ runners-up have to compete in the playoffs.

Denmark qualify for World Cup 2022

Denmark have scored 27 goals without conceding any goal in the World Cup qualifying. Their run to the finals was underpinned by impressive free-flowing football. The team are having their second successive World Cup after having reached the Round of 16 in the 2018 tournament and advanced to the Euro 2020 semi-finals this past summer. Their best finish is a quarterfinal run in 1998.

After that match, Denmark captain Simon Kjaer shared that: “We built up a crew and a mentality that is incredibly healthy and we have been eager to improve all the time”. Joakim Maehle, the hero of the game, added: “It means a lot, it's one of the coolest nights in the Park in a long time. It is fantastic. It's strong for us to win here, and we got this ticket to the World Cup.”

Something we should know about Joakim Maehle

In the match against Austria yesterday, Joakim Maehle has marked 8 points, making him become the second highest-ranked player of the match only behind experienced midfielder Delaney (according to Whoscored statistics). However, the talent of this young player in the past games could not be underestimated. Let’s discover more about him right here with Betimate!

1. Joakim Maehle Profile

Joakim Maehle full name: Joakim Mæhle Pedersen
Joakim Maehle age: 24 (DoB: 20 May 1997)
Joakim Maehle height: 6 ft 1 in
Joakim Maehle position: Full-back
Current club: Atalanta

Maehle is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Atalanta in Seria A and for the Denmark national team.

Joakim Maehle Atalanta

He started his senior career at the age of 19 for AaB FC in the 2016-17 season after 7 years of training in the AaB youth academy. A year later, Maehle was transferred to the Belgian club Genk and played there for 4 years. At the beginning of 2021, the Danish player was confirmed to join Atalanta from Genk with a fee of €10 million.

About his international career, he made his senior debut on 5 September 2020 in a Nations League game against Belgium in the 72nd minute of a 2-0 home loss. He then scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly against the Faroe Islands on 7 October 2020. He was one of the key parts helping the Red and White to reach the 2020 UEFA Euro semifinals before scoring the breathtaking goals against Austria to book Denmark an official ticket to the next year’s World Cup.

2. Joakim Maehle transfer news

Maehle was initially known as a versatile defender, right-footed but smoothly left-wing. He possesses wonderful speed and skillful individual technique. Even a difficult technique like “trivela” could not make him get into trouble.

Joakim Maehle goals and Joakim Maehle assists were highly appreciated by football experts. Especially, his great performances at Euro 2020 made him become famous and taken notice by European big clubs. Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Inter Milan are the clubs that are interested in this talented defender.

Joakim Maehle Euro 2020