Denmark's World Cup Hopes on Life Support after 4-0 Loss to Armenia

Denmark's pursuit of qualifying for a second consecutive World Cup suffered a major setback Tuesday after a shocking 4-0 defeat at home to Armenia.

The Danes now sit in fifth place in Europe's Group B, ahead of only last-placed Malta with four matches remaining.

The match got off to the absolute worst start for Denmark, as Armenia's Yura Movsisyan wasted no time in giving the visitors the lead with a goal in 24 seconds.

From there, the Danes were unable to turn their superior possession into goals and were penalized severely.

Armenia doubled their lead within 20 minutes through Aras Özbiliz Movsisyan got his second on the hour.

Denmark did get its chances, with Dennis Rommedahl and Simon Kjaer getting notable efforts, but the Danish side was never able to hit the back of the net.

The final Armenian goal in the 82nd minute was academic, as the match was decided well before then.

The 4-0 victory equalled the Armenia national football team's best ever result, though it's the third time they have achieved it since 2010.

On the other side, Denmark coach Morten Olsen called the loss "the worst night of my footballing life" in a post-match interview with Reuters via The Globe and Mail.

Both of the national teams now sit four points behind Bulgaria for the second spot in the group, though both hold a highly inferior goal differential.

Thus, if either team hopes to qualify for next summer's tournament in Brazil, they will surely need to win each of their final four matches.

For Denmark, a nation that has won matches at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, this has to be an extremely disappointing position.

With two matches with Malta and one with Armenia still remaining, though, the Danes will hope they can miraculously salvage this campaign.

Follow @Fw1812