Denmark and Christian Eriksen know they’ll have a chance to be the darlings of the 2022 World Cup, and that that journey begins with tournament dark horse Tunisia on Tuesday in Al Rayyan.
Eriksen’s terrifying on-field injury at EURO 2020 caught the attention of the world and Denmark went deep into the tournament while following the progress of their ailing captain.
Eriksen is back and thriving, now a member of Manchester United. He’ll know that Tunisia and coach Jalel Kadri will view this tournament as a chance to bring an African tournament as deep as it’s ever gone at a World Cup.
How to watch Denmark vs Tunisia live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 8am ET, Tuesday
Stadium: Education City Stadium, Al Rayyan
TV channels en Español: TelemundoStreamingen Español: Peacock (all 64 matches)
Key storylines, players to watch closely
Christian Eriksen joins Danish captain Simon Kjaer as centurions, and Denmark has a load of players very much in their prime. Tottenham’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg will help drive the midfield in a tantalizing group that includes Eriksen, Mathias Jensen, Christian Norgaard, and Thomas Delaney.
Tunisia boasts recent-enough wins over Egypt, Japan, and Nigeria, and handled Iran 2-0 a few days ago. There are veterans up-and-down the squad but the midfield is a younger bunch and will have to face Denmark’s strength. As for the youth: Can 19-year-old Hannibal Mejbri be a breakout star of the tournament, or might it be Brondby’s Anis Ben Slimane? Look for 25-year-old Aissa Laidouni (Ferencvaros) to make his presence felt early and often.
Denmark quick facts
Current FIFA world ranking: 10
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup appearances: 5
How they qualified: Qualified automatically from UEFA (Won Group F)
Coach: Kasper Hjulmand
Key players: Kasper Schmeichel, Simon Kjaer, Christian Eriksen
Tunisia quick facts
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Current FIFA world ranking: 30
World Cup titles: 0
World Cup appearances: 5
How they qualified: Qualified via CAF playoffs (Beat Mali)
Coach: Jalel Kadri
Key players: Ferjani Sassi, Wahbi Khazri, Youssef Msakni
This article is originally published at nbc.com
