Player ratings as Eagles of Carthage earn deserved point

Tunisia earned a deserved point against Euro 2020 semi-finalists Denmark to kick-off their World Cup campaign in Group C, and could even have had all three with slightly better luck.

The Danes, who have billed by many as dark horses in Qatar, disappointed on the whole.

Tunisia were more loudly supported inside the stadium and got off to a bright start that seemed to catch the Danes a little cold. The first big chance went their way too, with Mohamed Drager’s shot taking a deflection off Andreas Christensen and only narrowly flashing wide of the post.

Denmark seemed to finally catch their breath and get a foothold in the game around 20 minutes in. There was a decent chance for Joachim Andersen at a set-piece, while Christian Eriksen also flashed a dangerous ball into the penalty area.

Tunisia did have the ball in the net not long after as Issam Jebali raced onto a long through ball and finished past Kasper Schmeichel. But the flag went up as Jebali turned to celebrate, with replays showing he had been around a yard beyond the last defender when he began his run.

After Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Aissa Laidouni had traded efforts, the best chance of the first half also went the way of Jebali. But Schmeichel channelled the spirit of his father to spread his body as wide as possible and palm the ball behind for a corner as Jebali attempted a dinked finish.

Another offside flag chalked off a goal early in the second half, this time for Denmark. Substitute Mikkel Damsgaard had been beyond the last line of the defence in the build-up, rendering Andreas Skov Olsen’s finish at the second time of asking meaningless.

The Tunisia goal lived a charmed life during a brief spell in the second half, which saw Aymen Dahmen make a flying save to deny Eriksen. From the resultant corner, Mathias Jensen’s back-post travelled agonisingly across the goal, with fellow sub Andreas Cornelius somehow managing to then head it onto the post from virtually on the line.

Substitutions and yellow cards disrupted the rhythm of the final quarter of the contest but it was still pretty end to end without much in the way of clear chances.

Dahmen, who had been great all game, survived a nervous moment in stoppage time when he did just enough to parry a swirling cross-cum-shot, while Tunisian hearts were also in mouths when the referee was waved over to the pitchside monitor to review a potential penalty. The ball had dropped onto the arms of Yassine Meriah. But the official decided there…