95’: And that’s the win for Denmark. They were under the gun throughout the game but Denmark took their chance and they have win. This will be a hard loss to take – Peru missed a penalty and a plethora of chances.

Peru were the better team but that means nothing if you can’t take your chances.

92’: Kasper Schmeichel has gone over 500 minutes without conceding a goal for Denmark, last conceding against the Republic of Ireland in November 2017.

90’: 5 minutes of stoppage time. Peru still going forward with great spirit. They will not leave anything in the tank here.

85’: Eriksen had a clear chance to put this game beyond Peru but he buried his shot straight into Gallese, the Peru keeper. This is end-to-end stuff now.

84’: Superb run into the Denmark D by Carrillo and a perfect cut back too. Farfan had a clear shot at goal but Schmeichel got a foot in the way. Schmeichel has made 6 saves in this match already – equals the highest in this World Cup.

78’: Guerrero back heel beats the keeper but also missed the post by a whisker. So, so, so close. Peru have had 15 shots but only a third of them were on target.

72’: Peru have come close to scoring three times after the goal and given their display so far, they deserve to take something away from this game.

67’: Can Peru rediscover their composure? Yes, they can. Denmark escape after a header from Rodriguez goes across the face of goal, just eluding Farfan’s extended foot. They are still not out of it. It took them 36 years to make the World Cup again, they are not going down without a fight.

61’: Paolo Guerrero is on the field. Flores is off. Guerrero is Peru’s all-time leading scorers with 32 goals in 88 games.

59’: GOAAAL! Completely against the run of play, Denmark take the lead. Eriksen got some space for the first time in the match and his final ball was world class. Poulsen timed his run perfectly and came up with a cool finish to net his 5th goal for Denmark.

57’: Good opportunity goes abegging for Peru. Wonderful, patient buildup play and the final ball from Cueva just eluded Flores who was just yards away from goal. He would have had a very good chance to scoring from there. That was oh so close!

53’: Eriksen’s involvement in the game has been minimal but Denmark need him to get stuck in. He just hasn’t had enough of the ball and when he has had the ball, he hasn’t done much with it.

50’: Better start to this half for Denmark. Ball movement is better and that also forces Peru to be a bit more circumspect.

47’: The second half begins. Will we see a tactical change from Denmark? Will they try and keep the ball more? Will Peru continue to play at the same pace or will fatigue become a factor?

HT: Peru dominated huge parts of the first half but Denmark got their own in as well. The chance of the half, though, was the penalty which Cueva missed. He looks distraught but as he moves towards the tunnel, his team-mates gather around him. Wonderful scenes. They need him at his best.

44’: VAR to the rescue for Peru. They have a penalty. The referee had waved play on but he was then urged to have a look at the replays. But disaster struck when Cueva got underneath the ball and hit it way over the bar. What a missed opportunity!

Only one penalty was missed in the whole of the Brazil World Cup. Today alone, we have had two misses.

40’: Last five minutes of a very interesting first half. Lots of attacking play by both sides but no clear cut chances.

37’: Yellow card for Peru’s Tapia. A free kick just outside the D. Eriksen stepped up to take it and slammed it straight into the wall. Still 0-0.

35’: Schone comes on for Kvist. Forced change for Denmark, who are now controlling the game much better.

32’: Denmark’s William Kvist took a knee from Farfan a while back and he seems to be struggling. He is off the field at the moment.

28’: Lovely through ball to Farfan, blocked by Denmark skipper Simon Kjaer but Peru have a corner. Denmark have size on their side but Peru have pace. The result is a fascinating contrast of styles.

25’: Denmark starting to get into the game a bit now. Two corners in a row. They didn’t make much of it but encouraging signs for the Danes. They are slowly but surely working their way back into the game.

23’: Both sides are on 15-match undefeated runs dating back to 2016. Will one of those streaks end today? Peru’s short-passing game has been impressive but Denmark will look to make the set-pieces count.

19’: Peru even had a win over Croatia in the warm-ups. So they are feeling good about their game and their confidence is high. So far, they have done all the running in this game.

17’: The start is a bit like the Morocco-Iran game where the African nation dominated the start. Denmark have not been allowed to settled down but Peru need to make it count. They have had a lion’s share of the possession so far.

12’: Peru have some serious pace in this squad. Denmark haven’t been able to use their size advantage so far and are just trying to slow the game down.

8’: A strike from distance by Yotun. It hit the target but Schmeichel was up to the challenge.

5’: This isn’t going to be a boring match. That much is clear for the moment. Both sides will look at this as a match they need to win and for now, there is some good end-to-end stuff on display.

2’: Christian Eriksen directly contributed to 56% (14) of Denmark’s 25 goals scored during qualifying and he will be the one man that Peru will want to make sure they stop him.

1’: And we are a go!

21:26 pm: The national anthems are done. Both sides will clash for the first time ever.

21:23 pm: The two teams qualified via the play-offs and are both appearing at their fifth FIFA World Cup. Peru have reached the quarter-finals on two occasions, Denmark just the once.

20:52 pm: Denmark scored 22 goals in their qualifying campaign, conceding nine across ten matches. Star player Christian Eriksen got 11 of those 22 goals and will be the main playmaker in the team

Squads

Last year, the Danish national men’s team offered to pay wages to women’s team following a pay dispute with the board. Read more

Hello and welcome to live updates of the group C match between Denmark and Peru. This is only the fifth time that the former European Champions are playing in this competition. Fans of 1990s football will remember a squad that was brimming with talent. The squad that has arrived in Russia has been labeled as a one-man team with midfielder Christian Eriksen the standout performer

Nicknamed “King Christian”, Eriksen is one of the top players in the Premier League and has been voted Danish footballer of the year four times.

The Dane arrived at the World Cup on a hot streak of international form, with 12 goals in 13 games, the latest being a strike against Mexico in Denmark’s final warm-up match.

His sensational hat-trick against Ireland in November secured his side’s place in Russia. “It’s not quite true that Denmark is over-dependent on Eriksen,” Norwegian coach Age Hareide said. “We have a team that works for him but he also works for us. It’s not a one-man show.”

All eyes, though, will be on Peru skipper Paolo Guerrero, who made a triumphant return to football following a drugs ban, scoring twice in a 3-0 friendly win over Saudi Arabia. The veteran was out for 14 months.

(With inputs from AFP)