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After a surprisingly strong group stage, Australia advance and will play in the Round of 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup after beating 1-0 Denmark in the final match of the group. Australia will play in the knockout stage for the first time since 2006, when they lost against Italy after a decisive and much discussed penalty kick scored by Francesco Totti in the last minute of the game. Denmark lost and ended last in the group after a very disappointing World Cup campaign.
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The first half saw Christian Eriksen and his teammates playing the better soccer but despite two chances in the opening minutes, they couldn’t find the opening goal of the game. Later, Australia tried to react but it seemed that the game was stalling considering that at the same time Tunisia was drawing 0-0 against France. A Tunisia draw suited Australia, meaning they’d be safely through.
Things escalated quickly in the second half once Tunisia scored to take the lead against France and pull ahead of both Australia ad Denmark. It forced Australia and Denmark to change their attitude towards the match. Australia immediately scored the opening goal of the game with Mathew Leckie and from that moment on Socceroos were in control of the game. Denmark kept the ball much more than the opponents, but they failed to create chances and played very disappointing soccer, as they did for the whole tournament.
Australia will play against the winner of Group C that will play later at 2 p.m. ET when Argentina will face Poland, while Mexico will play against Saudi Arabia and everything is still open.