Tunisia survive late scare to see out entertaining draw against Denmark

The Eagles of Carthage entered the contest as underdogs, but Aïssa Laïdouni proved that they’d show no fear as he flew into a challenge on Christian Eriksen before celebrating, impassioning the strong Tunisian support in the Education City Stadium.

That tackle also set the tone for his teammates, who made life uncomfortable for Denmark with Mohamed Dräger’s strike deflecting off Andreas Christensen and spinning agonisingly wide. Issam Jebali thought he’d capped off Tunisia’s impressive start with a goal in the 23rd minute but had strayed offside as the ball was played through.

Jalel Kadri’s side also looked defensively sound as Montassar Talbi, Yassine Meriah and Ali Abdi made important interventions to keep out De Rød-Hvide. This was perhaps the reason that a frustrated-looking Pierre-Emile Højbjerg resorted to hitting a speculative effort that Aymen Dahmen easily gathered on his sixth appearance. Laïdouni had been a constant menace but couldn’t quite hit the target when he smashed a loose ball in the Danish box, before Kasper Schmeichel made an outstanding save to deny Jebali.

Denmark had seen Thomas Delaney go off injured at the end of a testing first half, and they continued to be stretched in the second period as Christensen cut out Laïdouni's pass when the midfielder broke forward brilliantly. At the other end, Andreas Skov Olsen thought he’d brought his nation some relief with a goal but Mikkel Damsgaard had been offside in the build-up. Despite Tunisia’s resilience, Christian Eriksen was finally afforded space in the 69th minute, but Dahmen saved his strike and Andreas Cornelius could only bundle Christensen's header from the ensuing corner onto the post.

While De Rød-Hvide took control of the final quarter-hour, Tunisia stood firm and even escaped a late VAR check unscathed, when the ball struck Meriah's hand in the box, to secure just their second clean sheet in 16 World Cup matches and earn a precious point. Meanwhile, Denmark will be disappointed after failing to win their opener for just the second time in six World Cup finals.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Yassine Meriah (Tunisia)