Tunisia and Denmark shared spoils as they settled for a goalless draw in a hotly contested World Cup opening match.
Tunisia starting lineup: Aymen Dahmen; Montassar Talbi, Yassine Meriah, Dylan Bronn; Mohamed Drager, Ellyes Skhiri, Aissa Laidouni, Ali Abdi; Anis Ben Slimane, Youssef Msakni; Issam Jebali.
Denmark starting lineup: Kasper Schmeichel; Joachim Andersen, Simon Kjaer, Andreas Christensen; Rasmus Kristensen, Thomas Delaney, Christian Eriksen, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Joakim Maehle; Andreas Skov Olsen, Kasper Dolberg.
It was a relatively virgin encounter between the two teams as it has been a decade since they last engaged each other.
Denmark and Tunisia last meet in 2002 in friendly match, and it was Denmark who carried the day with a 2-1 win.
While Denmark have not lost against African oppositions in a FIFA tournament, Tunisia played the minnows, having lost seven and drawing three; they have never prevailed against European oppositions.
Both sides engaged each other in more of a tardy encounter, with few attempts on goal and more missed passes.
But Denmark appeared a better side when on the ball with more accurate passes. They also dominated possession but were shot of clear-cut chances.
Tunisia equally made goal attempts but struggled to match the pace and clinical display of their opponents.
The game continued with both sides unable to find the back of the net. Tunisia finally seized a rare opportunity to make something happen, but the goal was ruled as an offside.
Denmark had some set pieces but needed to do more to covert them. They had a total of six corners in the first half and a lot of free-kicks but failed to make it count.
Anderson and Eriksen tried to break the goal deadlock, but the Tunisian defense were equal to the task.
Tunisia successfully stopped the European side and equally threatened for a goal when they had the opportunity, but the two sides ended the first half on a barren note.
It was a keenly contested second half as both sides filed into the pitch for the last 45 minutes of the game.
Nothing really changed from the first half, but the Danish side were still the better side as they continued to mount pressure looking for an early goal.
The game was a battle of the midfield as Tunisia equally contested for possession and retained some minutes of dominance when they had the ball.
The Tunisians looked set to salvage at least a point from a stronger and more organized Danish side.
Sixty minutes into the game, it was still barren, with no side able to break the goal deadlock.
Denmark sped up their attacking pace and had more ball in the opponent’s box with corner kicks and free-kicks.
Christian Eriksen really proved threatening to the Tunisian defense and had a powerful shot from the edge of the box saved by the Tunisian goalkeeper.
Tunisia held on with the game approaching the final minutes of the game.
There was a VAR call in the 90+4th minute. A cross from Eriksen had hit the hand of a Tunisian player. After the VAR check, it was ruled no penalty.
The match finally ended with Tunisia holding the Danish side to a goalless draw in a tightly contested World Cup opener.
