Emil Riis’s lingering hopes playing for Denmark at the World Cup are all but over after the Preston North End striker didn’t make their initial 21-man squad.
The World Cup is on the horizon and a number of countries are naming their squads for the trip to Qatar.
Denmark released theirs on Monday night in a TV special with boss Kasper Hjulmand.
Nations can name 26-man squads but Denmark curiously named only 21.
The final five spots are open and Hjulmand will eventually name those additional players.
With only two goalkeepers selected, former North End goalkeeper Daniel Iversen will be in contention for a call-up.
Yet things look a little less optimistic for PNE hitman Riis based on the squad Denmark have announced.
Hjulmand has selected four centre forwards already with Andreas Cornelius, Martin Braithwaite, Kasper Dolberg and Jonas Wind all in the squad.
It feels very unlikely that Denmark will call up another striker on top of those four and in truth, the likes of Rasmus Hojlund and Yussuf Poulsen may be head of Riis anyway.
The North End striker may have had some lingering hopes having been called up by Denmark for the game against Scotland in November 2021.
Riis was in blistering form at the time and Hjulmand will have seen Riis end the campaign with 20 goals.
This season has been a little up and down for Riis; some great quality and impressive finishing as well as some rather anonymous displays.
Riis just hasn’t quite done enough to push himself further into Hjulmand’s plans and the 24-year-old will know that he needs to kick on a little further to earn the international caps he will of course want.
Euro 2024 and the 2026 World Cup will be the goal for Riis, who certainly has the quality in his locker to become a Danish international regular.