Outnumbered in the stands, not outplayed on the field. That is the expectation of Denmark's players ahead of their European Championship semifinal match against England at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday. Entry restrictions to Britain amid the pandemic are stopping Danish fans from traveling to London from abroad to cheer on their team at English soccer's national stadium. Only Danish people already in England, or who live in England, can buy a ticket from the country's allocation of about 5,800 from an expected capacity of 60,000 spectators.

Denmark midfielder Christian Norgaard is gearing up for a hostile environment at Wembley. That, though, might not be such a bad thing. "They'll get wild support," Norgaard said. 'But maybe they'll turn on their own team if things don't go well for them. There is pressure on them," he added in Danish newspaper BT. "We can play more freely. We have always been able to do that, but we also have expectations of ourselves. We believe we can deliver something."

Like Norgaard, a defensive midfielder for newly promoted English team Brentford, Andreas Christensen also plays in England with Chelsea and has already been to Wembley twice this season in the FA Cup for the team's win over Manchester City in the semifinals and a loss to Leicester in the final. The centre back knows England's players well and doesn't see a massive gap between the teams.

"Player by player, they will probably say yes," said Christensen, when asked if England was the favorite. "I feel like we have the qualities to play against everyone. As a team, I would not say they are that much better."

But England coach Gareth Southgate wants his side to beat Denmark and make it to their first ever European Championship final for the first time. "We don't have as good a football history as we like to believe sometimes. These players are making massive strides. We've broken down barriers in this tournament and we have another opportunity to do that tomorrow. We have never been to a European Championship final so we can be the first England team to do that which is really exciting." Southgate was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Head to head: In their 21 encounters so far, England have won 12 and Denmark four times. Five matches have ended in a draw. This will be the third meeting for the two sides in a major tournament. The Danes have won in both their last two meetings at Wembley Stadium.

The tournament so far for the two teams

Denmark have been struck by a groundswell of support following Christian Eriksen's collapse in the team's opening group game against Finland, when he suffered cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator. The way Eriksen's teammates acted during and after the incident at Parken Stadium attracted widespread praise. They have ridden a wave of emotion to bounce back from losing to Finland and also to Belgium in their second game to qualify from the group, and then beat Wales and the Czech Republic on the way to the semifinals.

England have so far maintained a clean sheet throughout the tournament, and most importantly have peaked at the right time. After having scored only two goals in three group stage games, England beat Germany 2-0 in the round of 16, followed by a 4-0 rout of Ukraine. Most importantly, Harry Kane has got his scoring boots back. In the group stages, England beat Czech Republic, Croatia and the game against old foes Scotland ended in a goalless draw.

Players to watch out for:

For England, Harry Kane has peaked at the right time and will look to make a point in the bigger stages of the tournament, while Denmark will have their hopes pinned on Mikkel Damsgaard and striker Kasper Dolberg as they eye their second European crown.

(Match begins at 12:30 am IST, Thursday
Venue: Wembley Stadium)