Doha (The Hawk): To tie Denmark for first place in Group D of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday night at the Education City Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Tunisia overcame a late penalty scare.
The Eagles of Carthage, who have made five prior tries but have never advanced past the group stage of a World Cup, dominated the first half as they applied constant pressure to the Danes, causing them to make errors.
Denmark, on the other hand, took some time to settle in but picked up the pace as the game went on thanks to their talisman Christian Eriksen, who managed the movement in the middle of the field.
Tunisia opened their Group D campaign with a good performance against one of the pre-tournament dark horses, propelled by the fervent support of their fans.
Early in the game, the Africans started to attack, and in the 11th minute, Mohamed Drager's long-range shot came dangerously close to tearing apart the defence before bouncing off Andreas Christensen.
Although the Danes were sluggish to get going, Eriksen kept the Tunisian defenders on their toes, and the Danes flattered when they got near to the goal.
Anis Ben Slimane attempted to score, but Kasper Schmeichel produced a sensational save to prevent it. As a result, the teams headed into the halftime break level at 0-0.
The Tunisians kept up the pressure on the Danes in the second half with some tough tackles and sporadic attacks to spook them.
Issam Jebali and Youssef Msakni attempted to combine for a move, but Schmeichel expertly deflected the ball away from the goal.
The Tunisians persisted in looking for openings to breach the centre of the Danish barrier.
Denmark had the two best chances in the second half at the other end.
On the first time, Aymen Dahmen deflected Eriksen's try in the 69th minute, and Andreas Cornelius, a substitute, headed the ensuing corner kick from close range into the goal post.
The Tunisians were still on edge during injury time as they escaped a late VAR review about a potential penalty decision based on a handball; however, the VAR review determined that no handball had been committed by Tunisian players.
The Tunisians were ultimately content with the game's single point.
On November 26, Tunisia plays Australia in the second round, and on November 30, they play Australia to finish the group stage.
(Inputs from Agencies)