English and Danish newspapers exchange bacon and Viking-related taunts ahead of Euro semi-final

Bacon on toast and angry-looking Vikings laid claim to newspaper pages in Denmark and England as the two sides prepare to face one another in tonight’s Euro semi-final

Danish tabloid took aim at ‘Three Lions’ as papers traded taunts ahead of semi-final (The Sun/B.T.)

The Sun newspaper and Denmark’s BT newspaper have been exchanging bacon and Viking-related taunts ahead of tonight’s Euro semi-final match at Wembley.

Today’s front cover of The Sun said: “Bring home the bacon, lads”, and depicted the English flag on toast, using two strips of Danish bacon to form the red cross.

The Sun also used the same image as an advertisement in Denmark’s BT newspaper but with an important change in the text. “We eat you for breakfast,” the ad said in Danish, as Denmark is a major supplier of bacon to the UK.

Similarly, BT placed an advertisement in The Sun with an image of angry-looking Vikings taking up arms in front of the Danish flag,. It said: “It’s not coming home… We’re coming home!”

The Danish ad refers to Viking raids and conquests against England – carried out from the late 8^th century and lasting for some 300 years – and to England’s 1996 football anthem “Three Lions”.

The chorus of the popular song – written by popstart Ian Broadie and comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner – proclaims, “It’s coming home, it’s coming home, it’s coming, football’s coming home”. The song was written ahead of England hosting the Euro 96 tournament, in hopes that the country would bring home their first major title since their 1966 World Cup victory.

Denmark won the Euro championship in 1992 in Sweden; England has never won the tournament, and last competed in the semi-finals in 1996 on home soil.

The last time the two sides met in London, was in the UEFA Nations League in October 2020 – Denmark won 1-0.

The semi-final match will kick-off at London’s Wembley Stadium tonight at 8pm.