Denmark and France's fourth meeting at a FIFA World Cup finals ended in France becoming the first nation to secure their place in the knockout phase with a 2-1 win. 

In what was a largely uneventful match at Stadium 974 in Doha, Kylian Mbappe stole the show as strikes either side of Andreas Christensen's equaliser puts the reigning champions in an advantageous position going into the last round of fixtures. 

With six points from six, France sit atop Group D, three points ahead of second-place Australia with a superior goal difference, and are on course to winning their group. 

The defeat puts Denmark in an uncomfortable position heading into the final match. After earning just one point from the opening two matches, anything less than a win on Wednesday against Australia will see them exit the competition at the first hurdle. 

Story of the match 

Each side entered proceedings having been forced into changes from their previous game in Group D. 

Lucas Hernandez suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in their win over Australia and has been replaced by his brother Theo at left-back. Raphaël Varane partners Dayot Upamecano at centre-back instead of Ibrahima Konate while Jules Kounde takes over from Benjamin Pavard in at right-back. 

In the absence of Thomas Delaney, who is now unavailable for the remainder of the tournament, Kasper Hjulmand opted to alter his formation to a 3-4-3 and replaced the 31-year-old with Brentford's Mikkel Damsgaard, who impressed of the bench against Tunisia.  

Victor Nelsson went into the back three at the expense of Simon Kjaer and Jesper Lindstrom was also added to the front three alongside Andreas Cornelius, with the rest of the line-up unchanged from their World Cup opener. 

The opening stages of the game were tightly contested as Denmark sat deep and forced the French to be patient in their build-up; they were able to fashion space in promising areas but unable to do anything with it. 

The first notable moment of the game came in the 20th minute as Ousmane Dembele's in-swinging cross from the right was met by Adrian Rabiot's head but he was denied by a comfortable Kasper Schmeichel save to his right. 

In an extremely uneventful first half, France created the better of the half-chances. Kounde's strike following Kylian Mbappe's pull-back was blocked near the line, Antoine Griezmann fired a strike from a tight ankle into the feet of Schmeichel and Mbappe fired a glorious chance in proximity to the penalty spot well over the bar in the 40th-minute. 

Denmark were conservative in their approach and didn't amount to much in the first half, failing to test Hugo Lloris in goal. Cornelius and Christian Eriksen tried their luck from distance but fired their strikes wide of the post. 

There was an increase in tempo from the start of the second half as France continued to control the match. 11 minutes into the half Mbappe tested Schmeichel with a left-footed strike which was push over the bar by the goalkeeper. 

Moments after Griezmann missed a glorious chance on the half-volley, France took the lead. Mbappe threaded a pass to Hernandez on the underlap into the area, who pulled the ball back for the 23-year-old to sneak a first-time strike in between two defenders and into the net on the 61st-minute.

Going a goal behind woke Denmark up and they quickly found an equaliser. Christian Eriksen's corner was nodded on by Andersen and into the path of Andreas Christensen at the back post to head past Lloris in the 68th-minute. 

The Dane's came close to taking the lead four minutes later as a well-worked move down the left resulted in Lindstrom directing a strike from Damsgaard's pulled back cross towards goal, which was well saved by Lloris.

Les Blues went in search of the lead and came close as Aurelien Tchouameni header from close range was blocked by Joakim Maehle before Adrian Rabiot tried his luck with a scissor kick at the back post that flew over the bar. 

With four minutes of normal time remaining, Mbappe reinstated France's lead. Griezmann's in-swinging cross from the right evade Denmark's entire back line and Mbappe snuck in front of Rasmus Kristensen as the back post to bundle home the eventual winner. 

Mbappe had the opportunity to secure the first hat-trick in this competition as a long ball looped over Denmark's defence and into his path but he scuffed a first-time strike into the clutches of Schmeichel in stoppage-time.

Player of the match - Kylian Mbappe

When France needed their star man to step up and break down a resilient Denmark defence, he stepped up. 

Credible mention goes to Ousmane Dembele, who was brilliant in the first half, but it was Mbappe that produced the match-winning performance, scoring his second and third goal of this year's competition. 

The Danes struggled to contend with the 23-year-old's brilliance and he should have had a hat-trick if he didn't decide to rush the opportunity in second half stoppage-time. 

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