Denmark and Australia played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in their Group C duel at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Russia as both sides stay alive for knockout stage qualification.

The 1992 European Championship winners took the lead as early as the 7th minute through a well driven volley from star midfielder Christian Eriksen.

It was his 13th goal for Denmark in the last 15 games.

The Australians knew they were facing elimination if things stayed that way and that prompted the team to step up the tempo.

They were rewarded towards the end of the half when Spanish centre referee Antonio Lahoz needed VAR to award the Aussies a penalty after Danish forward handled inside the box.

It was the second successive penalty conceded by Poulsen and Australia captain Mile Jedinak made no mistake from the spot to level proceedings for his side.

The strike made him the second highest World Cup goalscorer for the Aussies with three goals behind Tim Cahill (5 goals).

The two sides huffed and puffed in the second half as both sides struggled to create clear-cut chances with the nest chance falling to Celta Vigo and Danish midfielder Pione Sisto who shot wide from a promising position.

The draw takes Denmark to the top of Group C ahead of France, while Australia are up to third ahead of South American nation, Peru.