Preben Elkjær
Centre-Forward · Verona · Denmark
About Preben Elkjær
Preben Elkjær was the goal-scoring engine of Denmark's most celebrated team — the 'Danish Dynamite' squad of the mid-1980s that included Michael Laudrup, Morten Olsen, and Jesper Olsen. He won the Bronze Ball at the 1986 World Cup (where Denmark reached the last 16). He played in Serie A with Hellas Verona (ITA), winning the Italian championship in 1985 — one of Italian football's greatest upsets. He scored 38 goals in 69 international appearances for Denmark.
Preben Elkjær's story
Hellas Verona 1985
In the 1984-85 Serie A season, Hellas Verona (ITA) — a provincial club from the Veneto, with no history of major success — won the Italian championship. The achievement is still considered the greatest upset in Italian football history. Elkjær was their leading scorer, providing the physical directness and goalscoring that no Verona (ITA) player had previously offered. They beat Juventus, Inter Milan, and AC Milan to the title. It remains the only Serie A title in Verona (ITA)'s history.
Danish Dynamite
Denmark's 'Danish Dynamite' squad of 1982-1986 — Michael Laudrup, Morten Olsen, Jesper Olsen, Elkjær, and others — is still considered the finest Danish national team in history. Their attacking football at the 1984 European Championship and the 1986 World Cup was among the most entertaining of both tournaments. Elkjær and Laudrup formed one of international football's finest striker partnerships — Laudrup's creativity perfectly complemented by Elkjær's physical directness.
Mexico 1986
Elkjær scored 6 goals at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico — the most by any European player at the tournament — and won the Bronze Ball as the third-best player. Denmark scored 9 goals in the group stage (including 6-1 against Uruguay), reached the last 16, and lost 5-1 to Spain when they took an early lead and then lost their defensive composure. Elkjær's tournament performance remains the finest individual contribution by any Danish player at a World Cup.
Did you know?
- 🏆 He won the Serie A title with Hellas Verona in 1985 — Italian football's greatest upset, a provincial club beating Juventus and Milan to the championship — as the team's primary goalscorer and attacking threat.
- 🥉 He won the FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball at Mexico 1986 — the third-best player of the tournament — after scoring 6 goals as Denmark reached the last 16 in their first-ever World Cup.
- ⚽ He scored 38 goals in 69 international appearances for Denmark — 0.55 per game — the country's record international scorer at the time of his retirement, a mark that stood until Jon Dahl Tomasson.
- 🌟 Michel Platini, who faced him at Euro 1984, said: 'Preben Elkjær was the most difficult centre-forward I played against in European football. His pace, his power, his will to score — he was relentless. Denmark with him was a genuine danger to anyone.'
- 🇩🇰 His partnership with Michael Laudrup — Laudrup the creator, Elkjær the finisher — was the attacking combination that defined 'Danish Dynamite', Denmark's most celebrated international football era, across the mid-1980s.
- 📊 He scored 6 goals in a single World Cup tournament (1986) — the most by any Danish player in World Cup history — and 5 at Euro 1984, making him Denmark's most prolific tournament scorer across the two competitions he participated in.
- 💪 His physical profile — pace, power, aggression, left and right foot — made him the perfect direct complement to Laudrup's technical elegance, giving Denmark an attacking balance that few international teams of the era could match.
- 🇮🇹 His success in Serie A — the most physically and tactically demanding league in Europe in the 1980s — confirmed that his quality was genuinely elite, placing him among the very small group of Danish players to have thrived in Italian football.
- 🎖️ He was selected by the Danish Football Federation as one of the 11 greatest Danish players in history — alongside Laudrup, Morten Olsen, Peter Schmeichel, and others — confirming his permanent status in Danish football's historical hierarchy.
Honours
- Serie A Championship: Hellas Verona (1985) — the greatest upset in Italian football history
- FIFA World Cup Bronze Ball: 1986 — third-best player of the tournament
- Danish Footballer of the Year x3: Multiple awards across the 1980s
- 38 Goals in 69 Internationals: Denmark's record international scorer at the time of his retirement
- Danish Football Legend: Named one of the 11 greatest Danish players in history by the Danish Football Federation
See the full Preben Elkjær profile
Stats, photo gallery, what the press are saying and the daily challenge, free on DailyPlayer.
Open the full profile