France and Denmark gave us a great football performance. In a very uncertain match full of attacking football, the world champions defeated Kasper Hjulmand’s team 2:1 with the goals of Kylian Mbappe and secured a place in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar.
At Stadium 974, the “Gaelic Roosters” managed to play “against” tradition and avoid the fate of Germany and Spain, who as defending champions finished the competition in the group at the World Cup in 2014 and 2018.
Moreover, France sent a serious message to all “challengers” because they are the first national team to secure the knockout phase of the competition after two goals.
The first half of the match was spent absolutely in favor of the defending champions. France had a serious chance in the 13th minute, but Raphael Varane’s header was easily blocked.
Just a few minutes later, Adrien Rabiot tried in the same way from a similar position, but Kasper Schmeichel was in the right place.
By the end of half an hour, Mbappe and Griezmann each threatened a goal for Denmark, who defended well and saved their own net.
Misses almost cost Didier Deschamps’ company in the 36th minute.
Andreas Cornelius ran a great counterattack and ran in front of Hugo Lloris, but his shot ended up just wide of the goal.
By the end of the first part of the game, France, which had as many as 12 shots at Denmark’s goal, was unable to find a way to the net, so we went to the break goalless – 0:0.
France continued to threaten in the second half, and after one miss in the 56th minute, Kylian Mbappe finally broke through Denmark’s wall four minutes later.
Theo Hernandez made a great move on the left side, found the PSG striker between the entire line of defense of the opponents, and the realization for a striker of such caliber is always pure routine.
However, that goal seemed to shake the Danes, who equalized in the 68th minute.
Andersen received the ball excellently after the corner, passed it with his head to the lonely Andreas Christensen, who leveled the score – 1:1.
Just four minutes later, Lindström had a chance to turn things around for the Danes, but Lloris made a brilliant save.
At the end of the match, Denmark missed another great opportunity, and then the penalty arrived.
In the 86th minute, Mbappe combined with Griezmann, received a return pass and then easily beat Schmeichel for a big celebration.
In the last round, the world champions will play against Tunisia, while Denmark and Australia will meet in a direct clash to advance to the round of 16.
