The Denmark player, who suffered a mid-match cardiac arrest in 2021, collapsed during a game against Ukraine on Sunday, June 7
Credit: Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty; Bo Amstrup / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Soccer player Christian Eriksen collapsed during a game in Denmark on June 7, nearly five years to the day after his cardiac arrest at Euro 2020
- His teammates and players from Ukraine formed a ring around the soccer star as he lay on the field receiving treatment
- Eriksen is in “good spirits” and expected to be discharged from the hospital soon, Denmark’s team doctor said in a statement, adding that Eriksen’s pacemaker “responded as it should” during the health scare
Soccer player Christian Eriksen is in “good spirits” after collapsing during a game for the second time in five years.
On Sunday, June 7, the 34-year-old Danish soccer star suddenly collapsed during a game against Ukraine at Nature Energy Park in Odense, Denmark.
The incident occurred almost five years to the day after Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in a Euro 2020 opening game against Finland on June 12, 2021.
Sunday's incident occurred 65 minutes into the game, with footage shared on social media showing players from both teams rushing to surround Eriksen and form a ring as he lay on the ground and medics rushed to his side.
Credit: Bo Amstrup / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty
Further footage then showed players and staff forming a shield around the sportsman as he was taken off the pitch.
In an update shared on the Denmark National Football Team's Instagram account on Monday, June 8, their team doctor, Morten Boesen, said that Eriksen, who is a father of two, was in “good spirits” and “with family.”
“I spoke with Christian this morning, and he is doing well,” Boesen said. “The expectation is that he will be discharged soon and can return home.”
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“We are taking good care of the players and staff and remain in regular contact with them,” he added.
In a translated statement shared shortly after the incident, the team confirmed that Eriksen was “conscious” and “under the circumstances, doing well.”
An update from Boesen then stated that Eriksen “walked off the pitch by himself” and said that the “pacemaker” he had previously been fitted with “responded as it should.”
Eriksen was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) — a type of pacemaker — following his cardiac arrest, per BBC Sport. The device allowed him to resume his soccer career.
According to the Mayo Clinic, an ICD “detects and stops irregular heartbeats.”
“An ICD constantly checks the heartbeat. It delivers electric shocks, when needed, to restore a regular heartbeat.”
Boesen said Eriksen was "briefly unconscious, but regained consciousness very quickly, and we were quickly in contact with him." "He will now undergo further examination at the hospital to determine what caused the incident," he continued. "We are in ongoing contact with him and the doctors at the hospital.”
Boesen added that Eriksen was “doing well” and had “asked me to send his regards to all the players and that he was okay.”
The doctor was the one to lead resuscitation efforts when Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in 2021, per The Guardian, with Boesen noting after the incident that the midfielder was “gone.”
Credit: Gerrit van Keulen/Soccrates Images/Getty
Speaking about Sunday's incident after the game, Denmark's captain, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, told the Danish broadcaster TV2, per The Guardian, “I turned around and saw Christian on his way to the floor, and we know a little about how he reacts, what that means. Everyone reacted super-fast and with respect. I can only compliment how much courage those who took care of Christian on the field had. The most important thing is that Christian is doing well.”
Before his return to playing in 2022, eight months after his collapse, Eriksen told BBC Sport that he was not concerned about playing with a pacemaker.
"I don't see any risk, no. I have an ICD, if anything would happen then I am safe," Eriksen told the outlet.
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He also reflected on the incident, saying he was "gone from this world until they got my heartbeat back” and shared his gratitude to medical staff, without whom “I would not be here.”
"For me, it was unlucky in a lucky place,” he continued. “I wouldn't hope anyone to get it, I never thought I would get it myself when it happened, but in the place it happened, I was lucky with the people around me acting so quickly. I was really grateful the doctors were in that place.”
Eriksen has previously played for Premier League teams Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford and Manchester United, where he spent three years until 2025.
“Wishing you a speedy recovery Christian ❤️,” Brentford wrote in the comments section of one of Denmark's Instagram posts on Sunday.
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