Denmark and Australia played a 1-1 draw in Samara on Thursday that kept Denmark on course to qualify and left Australia far short of that.

Denmark opened the scoring seven minutes in when Nicolai Jorgensen received the ball in the box and made a beautiful finesse chip to a charging Christian Eriksen.

He made no mistake and drove it home.

Australia equalized in the 38th through a penalty. Mathew Leckie headed a shot in the box. Yussuf Poulsen of Denmark jumped, but his arm blocked the shot. A quick check of the video confirmed the penalty. Certainly some Australian partisans would have seen it as inadvertent and inconsequential.

Mile Jedinak converted the penalty for Australia, and the score was tied.

It remained so through the second half, although both sides had some decent chances. Australia wound up with 14 shots and Denmark 10 in the open contest.

With 4 points, Denmark is in good position to qualify along with France from Group C. Australia must beat Peru in its last game, and even that may not be enough, depending on other results.