This has been a World Cup filled with dramatic twists and turns, intrigue surrounding the use of the Video Assistant Referee, play-acting, uncompromising tackles, and some cracking goals. We were in the middle of an unprecedented run of games without a goalless draw in World Cup history. As Russell Crowe belts out in the middle of the Gladiator movie, “are you not entertained,” Russia 2018 has produced near non-stop thrills.

However, France and Denmark had other ideas as they played out a 0-0 draw at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, the first match where we didn’t witness a single goal.

So what went wrong during the game? There was a genuine lack of effort. By fielding as many as six changes in the starting XI, France coach Didier Deschamps intent was clear: to give some of his squad members the experience of playing in the World Cup.

As for Denmark, the less said the better. Christian Eriksen and Co hardly created a chance of note. Their strategy during the last 20 minutes of the game was dire to say the least, not even attempting to open the French defence. This, despite knowing that Australia were out of contention for a last-16 spot, after the Socceroos had gone 0-2 behind against Peru. The final whistle was met with plenty of jeers.

As it turned out, the reaction to game by fans and analysts was more entertaining than the game itself.

Let’s just hope this was an offering to the Football Gods on behalf of the fans to ensure the quality of the World Cup otherwise doesn’t drop, eh?