(Football news) Denmark and Tunisia will go head-to-head in the opening Group D World Cup match at the Education City Stadium on Tuesday. Both teams will be looking to take the upper hand before reigning world champions France take on Australia later in the day. Denmark head into this fixture having won four out of their last five World Cup opening day matches and Kasper Hjulmand's team had an almost perfect qualification, finishing on top of Group F with 27 points from their 10 matches. The Danes won every single one of their first nine qualifying matches, scoring 16 goals and keeping five clean sheets but succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to Scotland in the group finale on November 15th.
If that wasn’t all, Denmark also had a strong run in the UEFA Nations League, picking up 12 points from a possible 18 to finish second in Group A1, one point behind leaders behind Croatia and seven points higher than France. They also had an impressive Euro 2020 campaign, reaching the semifinals but were defeated by England in extra time. The team are undoubtedly dark horses heading into the tournament and considering France’s injury woes, their aim will not just be to reach the last 16 but also top Group D and can take solace in the fact that they have already defeated the world champions twice in the Nations League earlier this year.
As for Tunisia, they are making their second consecutive appearance at the World Cup after qualifying for the 2018 edition in Russia, bringing their eight year absence from the tournament to an end. However, Tunisia had a disappointing campaign in Russia, securing only three points from their opening three matches and finishing third, resulting in an early elimination. To make matters worse, Tunisia are now grouped with world champions France along with Denmark and Australia and it’s fair to say that manager Jalel Kadri has his work cut out for him.
In qualifying, Tunisia finished two points above runners-up Equatorial Guinea in Group B before claiming a narrow 1-0 victory over Mali in a playoff. Since then, the North African team have had some good results, securing five wins and a draw from seven matches which sees them sit top of Group J of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Tunisia are ranked 30th in the world and recently defeated Iran 2-0 in last week’s warm-up friendly but it’s unlikely they will be able to continue that form against Denmark.
In team news, Denmark manager Kasper Hjulmand is expected to name a back four of Daniel Wass, Joachim Andersen, Barcelona man Andreas Christensen and full-back Joakim Maehle while Kasper Schmeichel will be in goal. Manchester United’s Christian Eriksen, who is third in the country’s all time appearances, will feature in midfield alongside Thomas Delaney and Tottenham man Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Meanwhile, the likes of Kasparov Dolberg, Mikkel Damsgaard and Andreas Skov Olsen will be pushing for a starting role in attack.
As for Tunisia, 31 year old forward Wahbi Khazri will feature in attack and has an impressive record of 24 goals in 72 appearances. He will feature alongside Msakni and 21-year-old Anis Ben Slimane while the back four will comprise Mohamed Drager, Montassar Talbi, Dylan Bronn and Ali Abdi with Aymen Dahmen in goal. A straightforward victory for Denmark seems like the most likely outcome from this fixture.
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