Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen scored on Tuesday on his return to the Copenhagen stadium where he suffered a cardiac arrest last year as England and France also won the latest round of pre-World Cup friendlies.

The Dane, wearing the captain's armband, struck in the 57th minute to round off Denmark's 3-0 friendly win against Serbia in the Parken Stadium where he collapsed and nearly died in a European championship match against Finland last June.

"To come back to Parken and score a goal with the welcome I received... is something that gives you goosebumps. It makes me incredibly happy," said Eriksen.

At Wembley, Ollie Watkins scored on his first start for England as Gareth Southgate's rejigged side beat 10-man Ivory Coast 3-0.

A reshuffled France also saw Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud on target for the world champions in a comfortable 5-0 victory over South Africa eight months before the World Cup kicks off in Doha. European heavyweights Germany and the Netherlands played out a 1-1 draw in Amsterdam while Italy salvaged some pride days after failing to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup, beating Turkey 3-2 in Konya.

In Copenhagen, taking to the pitch, Eriksen was handed the captain's armband and received a huge wave of applause from the home crowd.

"Welcome home Eriksen" and "Welcome home Christian" banners were unfurled by fans as the players came onto the pitch at the capital's national stadium.

Joakim Maehle opened the scoring for Denmark after quarter of an hour with Jesper Lindstrom adding a second eight minutes after the break.

Eriksen, who has relaunched his club career with Brentford in the Premier League, scored the third with a shot from outside the box for his 38th goal in 111 appearances.

The 30-year-old was substituted after 80 minutes, leaving the field to a standing ovation and was later named man of the match.