after the march 2005 game against kazakhstan, laursen's national team career went on a hiatus, due to a knee injury. after his absence from the danish national team for more than one and a half years, he was called up in november 2006, but had to withdraw from the team before the game due to yet another knee injury. in june 2007, laursen returned to denmark's starting line-up in a 2–0 win against latvia. he played his last international game on 11 october 2008 against malta. in january 2009, laursen announced his retirement from international football, as he found it physically straining to play for both club and country.