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Australia will square off against Denmark at Al Janoub Stadium in a winner-take-all Group D match in the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday.
Reigning champions France have already qualified for the knockout stage from Group D, leaving just one spot to fight for between the remaining three teams. Australia have three points to their name while Denmark and Tunisia have picked up a point apiece.
A draw might be enough for Australia to qualify for the next round, but there's a catch. If Tunisia defeat France by a margin of two goals or more, they will snatch that spot away from Australia's grip.
A win for Denmark would seal their berth in the knockout round only if they have a better goal difference than Tunisia, in case the African team wins against France. So, both teams have incentives to win here and we expect the game to be contested closely.
Australia eked out a 1-0 win over Tunisia in their previous outing thanks to Mitchell Duke's header, while Denmark fell to a 2-1 defeat to France, but managed to open their goalscoring account thanks to Andreas Christensen's header.
Australia vs Denmark Head-to-Head stats
The two teams have crossed paths four times across all competitions. While three of these meetings have been friendlies, their most recent meeting took place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage.
Christian Eriksen opened the scoring in the seventh minute of the game but erstwhile Australia captain Mile Jedinak scored from the penalty spot to equalize as the game ended in a 1-1 draw. In the three friendlies, Denmark have picked up a couple of wins while the Socceroos have one win to their name.
Australia form guide: W-L-W-W-W
Denmark form guide: L-D-W-L-W
Australia vs Denmark: Numbers you need to know before their FIFA World Cup 2022 encounter
Australia have just one win in their last eight games at the World Cup, with five games in that period producing over 2.5 goals. Denmark are winless in their last five games at the World Cup, with four of these games producing fewer than 2.5 goals.
De Rød-Hvide have never lost back-to-back games in the group stages of the World Cup and will be looking to record their first win of the campaign against Australia.
Denmark have made it to the knockout stage in four of their previous appearances at the World Cup, while Australia have not made it past the group stage in four of their previous five appearances.
This promises to be a good game, but given the form of the two teams, it might turn out to be yet another low-scoring affair.
