The DBU was founded on 18 May 1889 and was the first national football association outside Great Britain and Ireland.

[2] The DBU is separated into six regional associations, based on the former counties of Denmark: The Faroe Islands and Greenland, which are autonomous territories within Denmark, have their own football associations and are not part of the DBU.

[4][5][6] In 2017, the negotiations regarding terms and salary with the women's national team broke down, causing DBU to cancel the world cup qualification match against Sweden.

After the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the agreement between DBU and the men's national team expired.

Currently DBU has selected a squad without any players from the top tier of international and national leagues.

The badge is still in use on the Danish men's kit for the European Championship 2020 (so-named despite being played in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).