Australia vs Denmark FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar

On Wednesday, Australia and Denmark will conclude their World Cup group stage campaigns at the Al Janoub Stadium.

With France officially out of Group D, this is virtually a winner-take-all match.

Australia has the advantage coming into this match, having defeated Tunisia in the early game on Saturday, bringing them into second place with four points.

Australia's third World Cup victory, and they're first since beating Serbia in South Africa in 2010.

Despite their success in 2010, they were unable to advance despite collecting four points, and the same fate awaits them if they are defeated tonight.

Their record versus European opponents in past World Cups is concerning, as they have lost eight of their 11 games, although they did manage a 1-1 draw with their future opponents in the last version in Russia four years ago.

They too failed to advance from the groups, since they had only made the knockout phase once in five finals appearances, in 2006.

They've been great starts in these finals, which should help them in a tight, perhaps close-fought game here.

Australia led both France and Tunisia during the first quarter of the game, and the latter was the first time they had led at halftime in a World Cup encounter.

A first clean sheet in the tournament since 1974 was also much appreciated, and if they can duplicate that feat tonight, they will advance at the cost of Denmark.

It would be an extraordinary feat for the Socceroos to complete, given that they needed to win two sets of playoffs to go to Qatar after winning only one of their last seven AFC qualifiers.

Denmark, on the other hand, was dominant in qualifying, winning their first nine qualifiers with eight clean sheets, but now faces the very real danger of being eliminated early.

No team scored more points in UEFA qualifying than Kasper Hjulmand's side, but a recurrence of their 2018 outcome against Australia will see them eliminated.

They can draw encouragement from the fact that they lost their first two games of Euro 2020 but still made the semi-finals owing to a fantastic performance against Russia in their last group game.

Previous World Cup performance also offers reason for confidence, as they have advanced from the group stage in four of their five finals appearances, unlike Australia.

To do so, they must halt a five-game winless streak at the World Cup, since the defeat to France last time out followed a run of four consecutive draws.

Faced with Les Bleus on the grandest platform, the Danes succumbed to a merited defeat after defeating Didier Deschamps' team twice in the UEFA Nations League this year.

Nathaniel Atkinson missed Australia's triumph against Tunisia after injuring his ankle in the group opener against France.

The only change for that game was Brescia's Fran Karacic replacing Atkinson at right-back, and considering that they won, manager Graham Arnold is unlikely to make any changes, injuries allowing.

Martin Boyle, the Hibernian attacker who sustained an ACL injury on the eve of the competition and will miss the remainder of the season, remains a major absence.

Denmark's Thomas Delaney will miss the remainder of the tournament after injuring his knee in the first half against Tunisia on matchday one.

Mikkel Damsgaard was introduced as Hjulmand switched from 3-5-2 to 3-4-3, moving a player out of midfield and deploying the Brentford man out wide.

Both Jesper Lindstrom and Victor Nelsson were introduced against France to replace Andreas Skov Olsen and the aging Simon Kjaer, whose game time is being wisely controlled, although both are expected to return.

Australia's potential starting lineup is as follows: Ryan; Karacic, Souttar, Rowles, Behich; Leckie, Irvine, Mooy, McGree, Goodwin; Duke.

Denmark's likely starting lineup is as follows: Schmeichel; Andersen, Kjaer, Christensen; Kristensen, Hojbjerg, Eriksen, Maehle; Skov Olsen, Dolberg, Damsgaard; Skov Olsen, Dolberg, Damsgaard; Skov Olsen, Dolberg, Damsga

We predict Australia 0-2 Denmark.

Despite the fact that they just need a draw to advance, Australia will face a motivated Danish team that will be keen not to be one of the main underperformers in these finals.

Denmark fared admirably against Russia in Euro 2020, and they might repeat that performance here.

Denmark has an outstanding roster but has struggled in the last part of the World Cup. Christian Eriksen and Martin Braithwaite are key players for Denmark and will need to step up in this game.

Australia is the underdog in their group and might surprise everyone this week. The Socceroos require a draw to have a chance of progressing and will back themselves this week. We anticipate a low-scoring tie in this contest.