Denmark 0-0 Tunisia: Goalless Ends With Denmark And Tunisia Despite Late VAR Drama

The team that made the most of its opportunities to grab the lead in the first half was the Eagles of Carthage, who are now 20 places below Denmark in the world rankings.

The greatest of them came just before halftime, but Kasper Schmeichel’s extended right hand brilliantly stopped Issam Jebali’s chipped effort from close range.

During second-half stoppage time, Tunisia center-back Meriah was found to have handled the ball in the penalty area, which became the game’s major talking point. VAR gave the match referee, Cesar Ramos Palazuelos, the order to watch the pitchside monitor, which caused the Tunisian bench to get quite tense.

Replays revealed that the defender’s torso had been touched by the ball before it struck his arm, but once spectators learned that the incident would be investigated by the referee, they all felt confident that the penalty would be awarded. When Ramos unexpectedly decided not to award Denmark the penalty kick, Tunisia’s coach Jalel Kadri exhaled with relief. One of those situations where anything could have happened.

For the Carthage Eagles this afternoon, Tunisia’s left wing-back played outstandingly as he expertly juggled his defensive duties with his offensive responsibilities.

The 28-year-old finished with a total of seven successful tackles (a 100% success rate), two aerial victories, seven successful clearances, and one successful dribble. Abdi, who competes for Ligue 2 club Caen, was instrumental in helping his country get a significant point.

Denmark: Schmeichel 7, Andersen 7, Kjaer 7, Christensen 7, Maehle 6, Eriksen 7, Delaney 6, Hojbjerg 6, Kristensen 6, Olsen 6, Dolberg 6. Subs: Lindstrom 6, Damsgaard 6, Jensen 6, Cornelius 7.

Tunisia: Dahmen 7, Bronn 6, Meriah 7, Talbi 6, Abdi 7, Laidouni 7, Skhiri 7, Drager 6, Ben Slimane 6, Msakni 7, Jebali 6. Subs: Hannibal 6, Kechrida 6, Khenissi 6, Sliti 6, Sassi 6.

11′ – JUST WIDE! – Schmeichel is breathing a sigh of relief! Drager’s effort from distance takes a wicked deflection off the side of Christensen and glances just wide of the far post for a corner! The resulting set-piece is delivered towards the near post for Msakni to flick on, but the forward’s header sails well over the bar. Denmark is a little bit under the cosh here!

43’ – GREAT SAVE! – What a save! Tunisia works a throw-in from the far-side touchline really quickly, and the ball finds Jibali in the box. Even though he may have been flagged for offside had he scored, he advances in on goal and is one-on-one with Schmeichel, but the forward’s chipped effort is spectacularly saved by the Denmark keeper, who makes his body as big as possible and just about gets his right glove on the ball to tip it out for a corner!

55’ – NO GOAL! – Denmark has the ball in the net but it is ruled out for offside! Olsen puts it into the bottom corner from a rebound after Damsgaard’s shot was initially saved. But the attacking midfielder was in an offside position from the original pass.

70’ – OFF THE POST – A corner is whipped in from the right by Eriksen, which Christensen flicks on back towards the far post for Cornelius to tap in, but the forward’s header from a few yards out cannons back off the upright and Tunisia survive!

90+3’ – VAR DECIDES NO PENALTY! – Lindstrom arrows a looped shot toward the top corner, but Dahmen gets there in time. However, the referee goes to the VAR monitor to check a handball in the box by Meriah. After a short stoppage, the referee opts against awarding Denmark a game-changing penalty!