On Tuesday afternoon, Denmark and Tunisia clash in Group D of the World Cup as both teams look to start their campaign with a victory.
Denmark form guideThe Danes won their qualifying group ahead of Scotland, Israel and Austria. Ultimately, it was a pretty comfortable campaign for them, as they won nine of their ten qualifiers, scoring 30 goals and conceding just three.
The Scandinavian nation will be participating in their sixth World Cup. All of their appearances have been since 1986, when they made their debut in the competition.
Denmark’s recent form has been slightly mixed, although they have won five of their previous seven international matches.
Kasper Hjulmand’s team will be looking to improve their recent record at World Cups, as Denmark has won just one of their last five games in the competition.
Tunisia form guideThe north African outfit won their group in the second round of qualifying before beating Mali in the third round to secure their spot at Qatar 2022. Of the five African teams that have qualified for the World Cup, only Senegal has a higher FIFA ranking.
Since their debut at the World Cup in 1978, Tunisia has made four further appearances in the competition. To say their record at World Cups is poor would be an understatement, as Tunisia has won just two of their 15 games, having never made it beyond the group stages.
However, their recent form will give them hope that they can make history in Qatar. A 5-1 hammering against Brazil ended a seven-game unbeaten run in the international game. In their unbeaten run, Tunisia had also kept clean sheets in all seven matches.
What am I backing?This game will surely be a close encounter, as neither team is that prolific, and both are well-organised. However, I am backing Denmark to record a narrow win in a low-scoring encounter.