Eriksen Should Retire After Second On-Field Collapse – Townsend

Former England winger Andros Townsend has admitted he would advise Christian Eriksen to hang up his boots following another frightening incident on the international stage.

The Danish playmaker collapsed unexpectedly during a friendly against Ukraine on Sunday, prompting urgent medical attention in scenes that sent chills through the stadium.

Fortunately, the 34-year-old regained consciousness quickly and was able to leave the pitch on his own feet. The match was later called off.

Neither Denmark nor Ukraine will feature in the 2026 World Cup.

The collapse came almost exactly five years after Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest during a Euro 2020 group game against Finland. Following that near-tragedy, he was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) — a device designed to correct dangerous heart rhythms.

Remarkably, Eriksen returned to top-flight football, turning out for Brentford, Manchester United, and VfL Wolfsburg, while earning more than 40 additional caps for his country.

But speaking on talkSPORT, Townsend — who shared a dressing room with Eriksen at Tottenham — was blunt when asked if he would recommend retirement.

“From the outside looking in? Absolutely, yes,” Townsend said on the Breakfast show. “There are so many bigger things to worry about. He has a beautiful family to think of.

“That said, you never really know what’s going on inside someone’s head — especially a footballer who fought so hard to come back from nearly dying on a pitch, who went on to play for Manchester United, one of the biggest clubs in the world. It’s tough to judge. But in my eyes, a football match is not the most important thing here.”

Townsend went on to note that, ironically, Eriksen’s ICD puts him in a relatively protected position.

“I’ve looked into it and spoken to people who understand it better. The truth is, Christian is probably in one of the safest possible situations — if that happens again, and it did, the defibrillator inside his chest can shock him back. It’s terrifying to witness, but I think he’s actually as safe as anyone can be in that scenario. The device did its job yesterday.”