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The Red and Whites of Denmark and the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia will kickstart their 2022 FIFA World Cup campaign when they square off at Al Rayyan on Tuesday.
The Danes secured qualification to Qatar with a near-perfect record in the qualifiers. They garnered 27 points from 10 matches to comfortably top Group F, winning their first nine games and conceding just three goals in the entire qualification campaign.
Tunisia finished top of Group B in the World Cup qualifiers with 13 points from six matches and saw off Mali with a 1-0 aggregate victory in the playoffs in March. The North Africans are making their sixth appearance at the World Cup but are yet to progress from the group stage.
Tunisia come into the Mundial in high spirits, having claimed a 2-0 victory over Iran in a warm-up friendly match last Wednesday.
Denmark have not been in action since dispatching France with a 2-0 home win in the UEFA Nations League in September.
Defending champions France and Australia complete the quartet in Group D of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Denmark vs Tunisia Head-to-Head stats
This will be the first time that the two sides will face each other in a competitive fixture. They squared off in a warm-up friendly for the 2002 FIFA World Cup when Denmark claimed a 2-1 victory in May 2002.
Tunisia have won two of their last three friendlies, keeping a clean sheet in their two victories, while Denmark have three wins in their last five competitive games.
Denmark form guide: W-L-W-L-W
Tunisia form guide: W-L-W-D-W
Denmark vs Tunisia: Numbers you need to know before their FIFA World Cup 2022 encounter
Denmark have won their opening game in four of their previous five World Cup campaigns and are unbeaten in four games against African opposition, winning two.
Tunisia have won just two of their previous 15 games at the FIFA World Cup, losing nine and drawing four. They have managed just one clean sheet in the tournament.
The world's 30th-ranked side are winless in 10 games against European opposition at the World Cup, losing seven and drawing three. Their charge at the tournament will be led by Wahbi Khazri, with the Montpellier man directly involved in four of his nation's five goals at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Denmark recently secured two wins over world champions and Group D opponents France in the UEFA Nations League. Those wins over one of the pre-tournament favorites highlight the growing pedigree of Kasper Hjulmand's side.
The Danes are ranked 10th in the world and are potentially dark horses in the tournament. They recently made it to the semifinals of the European Championship and will be looking to build on that in Qatar.
The Scandinavians had the joint-best defensive record in the European qualifiers for the World Cup, conceding just three goals. This watertight backline could be key to their chances of progressing to the deep end of the tournament.
Club Brugge forward Andreas Skov Olsen will be tasked with making things tick in attack. The 22-year-old contributed the most goals during Denmark's World Cup qualifiers, scoring five goals and providing three assists in 10 games.
