FIFA WORLD CUP - QATAR 2022 ⚽️🇶🇦

Live reporting by Joseph Kizza
(Scroll down the page for earlier updates.)
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3:08 pm  |   FULL TIME: AUSTRALIA WIN

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

The stakes were high and it is the Australians that rose to the occasion. Tunisia huffed and puffed, but they failed to claw their way back into the contest.

And with that, our live page for this game comes to an end. Will be back later tonight for Group C's Argentina v Mexico at 10pm. See you then.
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3:06 pm  |   FULL TIME: AUSTRALIA WIN

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Ahead of this evening's duel of France and Denmark, this is what Group D looks like:

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3:03 pm  |   FULL TIME: AUSTRALIA WIN

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Tunisia's World Cup journey is on the brink. The Eagles of Carthage have never made it out of the group in the five World Cup editions that they have previously participated in.

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3:00 pm  |   FULL TIME: AUSTRALIA WIN

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

And the Socceroos have it! A second ever World Cup clean sheet - and a first since 1974. The Australians are well and truly back in it and are now second in Group D ahead of Denmark and Tunisia.

Their final group game is against Denmark and be sure they will go in for that one fuelled with sky-high belief.

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90 (+2) mins  | 🟨  YELLOW CARD - Sassi

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Ferjani Sassi is booked for a handball. He may not agree with the referee, but that looked deliberate. The Al-Duhail midfielder needs to keep his head in the game.
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90 mins

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

SIX MINUTES OF ADDED TIME.

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89 mins

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Tunisia's Taha Yassine Khenissi brings down Miloš Degenek and the Socceroos have a freekick, effectively killing the Eagles' momentum.
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87 mins

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

CLOSE! Wajdi Kechrida slips a ball into the Australian box and target man Wahbi Khazri's shot lands in the save gloves of Mathew Ryan, who has been outstanding in this game.
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86 mins

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Incessant attacking by Tunisia and desparately solid defending by Australia.
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85 mins    |  🔁  SUBSTITUTION - Australia

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

A double change for Australia. Keanu Baccus is thrown into the fray, replacing Mathew Leckie while Craig Goodwin is off and Awer Mabil comes on.
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83 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

What a great first-time connection by Montassar Talbi to test Socceroos glovesman Mathew Ryan after the Australians defend a long throw-in.
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80 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

TEN MINUTES TO GO!
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78 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Time is running out for Tunisia. A defeat today will send them down to bottom of Group D - with a tough final group game against reigning champions France their next task.

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75 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

A chance for Tunisia to find the leveller, but the headed effort bounces off the target. On the other end of the pitch, Aaron Mooy sneaks past his minder and releases a shot that whistles just over the bar.
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73 mins    |  🔁  SUBSTITUTION - Tunisia

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

A double change for Tunisia as their candle continues to burn out. Taha Yassine Khenissi comes on for Issam Jebali while Wajdi Kechrida is the man on and Dylan Bronn is off.
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71 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

CLOSE! The Africans almost concede another goal but Jamie Maclaren's pass from the left on the Tunisian edge misses contact with a sliding Mathew Leckie inside the box.
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70 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

20 MINUTES for Tunisia to find a goal.
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69 mins    |  🔁  SUBSTITUTION - Tunisia

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Tunisia finally bring their man on - Wahbi Khazri, who sees teammate Aissa Laidouni give him for him. The Tunisian crowd welcome the Montpellier forward's introduction with a loud cheer of belief.
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65 mins    |  🟨  YELLOW CARD  - Abdi

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Ali Abdi needs to remember that football is a game of rules. And the referee reminds him of just that after a wild challenge on an opponent.
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64 mins    |  🔁  SUBSTITUTION - Australia

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Jamie Maclaren replaces goalscorer Mitchell Duke while Riley McGree is replaced by Ajdin Hrustic.
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63 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Riley McGree brings down a masked Ellyes Skhiri in the midfield battle for possession and it is a freekick for Tunisia. The pause in play allows Australia to make a double change.
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61 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

The men in white are probing. Subsitute Ferjani Sassi fancies his chances, but his loaded shot yards out flies wide of the mark. Too ambitious and wasted.
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58 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

That's a great save by Mathew Ryan to paw over a Tunisian ball tossed into his box.
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54 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

CHANCE for Australia from a counter-attack! A crossfield pass down the left flank is swept into the goalmouth to fully stretch Tunisian goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen into a dive, but the ball does not meet any Australian and hurtles out of play.
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54 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Most of the action in this second half has been restricted to the Australian half - and understandably so.
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53 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Aïssa Laïdouni is downed during a chaotic moment inside the Socceroos' half, and Tunisia are awarded a freekick from many yards out. The ball is whipped into the crowded box, but the Australians do well to defend in numbers.
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51 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Wahbi Khazri, Tunisia's second-highest goalscorer (24 goals), remains on the bench. You wonder when Jalel Kadri is thinking of throwing him into the fray.
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49 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Early pressure from Tunisia, as they get their equaliser pursuit off to a flying start. They are trailing against a side that last won a World Cup game in 2010.
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47 mins   

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Harry Souttar hurts himself as he heads an early second-half corner delivery out of the danger. The Stoke City defender manages to shake off the niggle after that brave clearance from him.
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2:07 pm   |   SECOND HALF UNDER WAY!

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Action resumes inside Al Janoub Stadium. Tunisia have made a half-time substitution, with Mohamed Dräger coming off and Ferjani Sassi replacing him.
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2:03 pm   |   HALF TIME: AUSTRALIA LEADING

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

The Tunisian fans remain hopeful. Their team will need to claw back early if they are to win this one.

Coming into this game, the Eagles of Carthage had evaded defeat in consecutive World Cup matches for the first time. But they have lost four of their five group stage games played on match day two, with the expection of a 1-1 draw with Belgium in 2002. As it stands, the African side are staring at another defeat.

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1:51 pm   |   HALF TIME: AUSTRALIA LEADING

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

And there goes the half-time whistle. Tunisia have a lot of work to do. Australia need to keep the momentum going.
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45 (+2) mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

CLOSE! That should have been his opening goal of this tournament, but Tunisia captain Youssef Msakni fails to bend his low shot to find the target.
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45 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

FIVE MINUTES OF ADDED TIME.

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43 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

A near-disaster for Tunisia as defender Ali Abdi miskicks a clearance inside his box. The Caen player is lucky the Australian attacker breathing behind his neck fails to get a good handle on the spillover.
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40 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

CHANCE! A long Tunisian throw-in ends inside Australia's box and skipper Msakni tees up Mohamed Dräger for a shot, which is blocked with a very timely slide through.

That was going in. I am not sure Socceroos keeper Mathew Ryan had a chance.
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37 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Jalel Kadri's side have failed to shake off the Australian resistance. But now they are on the attack - Youssef Msakni is the man with the ball, he drives into the box and launches, but his shot is blocked.

The Tunisia captain is the most capped player on the team in Qatar and has scored 17 goals for his nation.
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34 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

A corner for Australia as the search for a second goal is very much under way, but Jackson Irvine tries the fancy stuff and sees the ball roll out of play.
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32 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Aaron Mooy has been the man at the heart of Australia's set pieces. The Celtic man has scored seven goals for his nation.

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28 mins     

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Australia have lost six of their last seven World Cup matches, conceding  18 goals in this spell. If they lose today, it will be the third time in a World Cup to suffer defeat in their first two games, having previously done so in 1974 and 2014.
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25 mins  |   🟨  YELLOW CARD - Laïdouni

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Tunisia's Aïssa Laïdouni is the first man to be booked for elbowing Craig Goodwin. And yet again, another freekick for Australia, which causes a bit of panic in the Tunisian box after the ball is swept in, but the danger is snuffed out.
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23 mins  |   ⚽️  GOAL! - Duke (Australia)

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-1 Australia 🇦🇺 

Mitchell Duke heads in the 50th goal of this World Cup to put the Socceroos in front. The Fagiano Okayama forwards flicks the ball with the back of his head for his ninth international goal.

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20 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

Another chance for Tunisia, who have flipped the momentum in this opening encounter, but Mohamed Drager skies the effort.
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18 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

CHANCE! Tunisia are on the attack. Issam Jebali does well to sprint with the ball all the way from the midfield and slides a pass to teammate Youssef Msakni, who is muscled off the ball by Kye Rowles and co.
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17 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

Mitchell Duke lands awkwardly as he challenges for the ball with Tunisia's Dylan Bronn. The referee pauses play for a moment to check on the Socceroos player, who manages to pick himself back up albeit wearing a look of pain.

He felt that one, the Australian.
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16 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

By the way, Australia are facing African opposition at the World Cup for just the second time. The first time that happened was in 2010 in South Africa, where they drew 1-1 with Ghana.

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13 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

Now Tunisia have a freekick after Aziz Behich clatters into Mohamed Dräger. The Aussie does not complain. It was reckless. The Eagles, starting the freekick short inside their half, have a chance to regroup.
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11 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

Australia have another freekick and it is Aaron Mooy standing over it. He delivers a cross-field pass that finds Fran Karačić, who backheels the ball to a teammate. A cross is dipped into the Tunisian box and they have to clear again.

It is a bubbly atmosphere.

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7 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

Interestingly, the Socceroos have been allowed to settle into this game and have found their stride. The ball is lingering inside the Tunisian half, with the Eagles pegged back.
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5 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

Tunisia's Mohamed Dräger rams into Celtic man Aaron Mooy and Australia have a freekick. The Eagles of Carthage defend the resulting freekick well enough and clear the danger.
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4 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

Against Denmark in their opener, Tunisia kept just their second clean sheet in their 16 World Cup games. They had last done so against Germany in 1978.
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2 mins 

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

In case you are watching on TV, Tunisia are the team wearing all-white and they have applied some early pressure amid a raucous atmosphere.
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1:00 pm   |   KICKOFF! - Game under way

🇹🇳 Tunisia 0-0 Australia 🇦🇺 

Enough of the pleasantries. It is time for the main course meal.

Referee Daniel Siebert, who officiated the Arab Cup final last year between Tunisia and Algeria here in Qatar, blows the starting whistle. Australia set the ball in motion.

Game on!
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12:55 pm

🇹🇳 Tunisia v Australia 🇦🇺 (1pm)

It is about time. The teams have walked out for the pre-match formalities before the battle. Anthems are under way, first with Tunisia's.
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12:47 pm

🇹🇳 Tunisia v Australia 🇦🇺 (1pm)

Australia have lost 11 of their 17 World Cup matches (65%) ever played.

Tunisia are looking to become the second African country in Qatar to win a match after Senegal beat hosts Qatar 3-1 on Friday. Qatar got eliminated - with a game to spare - after the Netherlands drew with Ecuador on Friday.
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12:26 pm

🇹🇳 Tunisia v Australia 🇦🇺 (1pm)

Tunisia are taking part in a sixth World Cup and have never progressed from the group stage. They will place themselves on course for some historic performance if they pick up three points today.

Australia are also making their sixth World Cup appearance. The only time they made it out of the group was in Germany 2006, when they reached the round of 16.
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12:20 pm  |   Holders France lead Group D

🇹🇳 Tunisia v Australia 🇦🇺 (1pm)

This is what Group D looks like coming into this early afternoon's game, with defending champions France set to take on Denmark later today at 7pm.

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12:17 pm  |   The starting XIs

🇹🇳 Tunisia v Australia 🇦🇺 (1pm)

Today's early kickoff will be handled by German referee Daniel Siebert at Al Janoub Stadium in Al-Wakrah.

Here is how the Tunisians are starting, with a 5-3-2 formation:

Aymen Dahmen (GK), Montassar Talbi, Dylan Bronn, Yassine Meriah, Mohamed Drager, Ali Abdi, Aissa Laidouni, Ellyes Skhiri, Naim Sliti, Issam Jebali, Youssef Msakni (C)

The Australians are going with a 4-3-3 formation with this starting XI:

Mathew Ryan (GK, C), Kye Rowles, Fran Karacic, Aziz Behich, Harry Souttar; Aaron Mooy, Riley McGree, Jackson Irvine, Mathew Leckie, Craig Goodwin, Mitchell Duke

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12:10 pm  |   'We've got to muscle up'

🇹🇳 Tunisia v Australia 🇦🇺 (1pm)

On Friday, Australia's head coach Graham Arnold said: "We'll be in their faces, we'll be up high and chasing and pressing, we'll be on the front foot."

"The Tunisians like physical games and we've got to match the physical aspect," said the 59-year-old. "We've got to muscle up and give it our best."

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12:00 pm  |   WORLD CUP DAY 7 COVERAGE

🇹🇳 Tunisia v Australia 🇦🇺 (1pm)

Good afternoon everyone. It is the first Saturday of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and already, the group stage has served up some interesting duels and shocking results - oh, and wonderful goals too! 

For instance, Richarlison's acrobatic second goal in Brazil's 2-0 win over Serbia in Group G on Thursday remains the most talked-about goal and as you would imagine, that wonder strike has soaked up plaudits from viewers around the soccer world.

As we build up to the first game on today's four-match feast, a total of 49 goals have been scored in 15 out of the 20 games played so far. And as you may have worked out already, five matches have ended goalless - one of them involving today's early kickoff participant: Tunisia. The other two draw results ended 1-1. So altogether, make that SEVEN draws in this competition thus far.

Today, Tunisia and Australia are set to battle in a second round Group D fixture with so much at stake. Kickoff is at 1pm and we shall do live text commentary for that one.

The Eagles of Carthage played out a goalless draw against Denmark in their opening game on Tuesday while the Socceroos were beaten 4-1 by holders France the same day.

A win for Tunisia today will brighten their chances of making it out of the group ahead of their final game with the reigning champions. Any result short of victory and Australia will be on the brink of an early exit from the competition.

Therefore, both sides will be out to fight for three points.