World Cup Predictions: Denmark vs Australia

Australia and Denmark will face each other in their final group-stage match on Wednesday evening.

France have ensured their place in the next round, so the teams will try to nick the only remaining Group D spot.

Australia head into the tie as the second-placed team in Group D.

On Saturday, they beat Tunisia 1-0 to add three points to their tally.

It was Australia’s first win in the World Cup in 12 years. When the score remained 1-0 at the final whistle, the Socceroos registered their first World Cup clean sheet in nearly five decades!

Australia struck early against France too, but they could not hold on to the lead as the defending champions sent four goals past Mathew Ryan in reply.

Despite starting their campaign with a heavy defeat, Graham Arnold’s side sit comfortably in the Group D standings. They have three points to their name, and a point could be enough for them to make it to the next round if France don’t lose to Tunisia.

Denmark came into the tournament as one of the dark horses.

Following their Euro 2020 semifinal run and an impressive World Cup qualification campaign, the Danes were favourites to progress from Group D, alongside France.

But a return of one point from their first two matches has made the risk of group-stage elimination very real for Denmark.

They should still go through if they manage to win against Australia. But a failure to win against the Aussies will Denmark packing for home.

Team News

Nathaniel Atkinson might be fit to return to the starting XI after having to sit out the Tunisia game with an injury. But Fran Karacic did an excellent job in his absence at right-back. So, Graham Arnold might not be keen to shuffle his playing deck before the game.

Martin Boyle will watch the match from home after having to withdraw from the squad suffering an ACL injury. The Hibernian forward is looking at a nine to twelve months long layoff.

Denmark’s Thomas Delaney also had to return home earlier than he expected when he sustained an ankle injury against Tunisia.

The midfielder needs a few months of rehabilitation to get back to his best, so he had no choice but to sacrifice his World Cup dream.

Delaney’s absence handed a starting role to Mikkel Damsgaard as Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand chose to play a wide attacker instead of bringing in a like-for-like midfield replacement.

So, he changed the shape to 3-4-3 from a 3-5-2.

Hjulmand is expected to continue with the 3-4-3, believing it will give them a greater chance of winning with an increased attacking threat.

Our Prediction

Denmark were not vastly outplayed by France in the previous match.

The system change made them look more menacing on attack, as documented by their immediate response after falling behind against France.

We believe will not crumble under pressure and pick up a necessary win to take their World Cup campaign beyond the group stages.

We are expecting a 2-0 win for Denmark.

 Date: 30 November

Kickoff: 8:30 PM IST

Venue: Al Janoub Stadium