When Issam Jebali, number 9 in the Tunisia national team, charged the ball towards the Danish penalty area in the 51st minute, more people in the stadium screamed with every step he took.

They scream when he's only 40 yards from goal.

They scream when he's only 30 yards from goal.

You scream when he's only 20 yards.

And because they screamed even when Jebali wasted the ball in front of the penalty area, it would have been exciting to see what would have happened if he had just put it in the goal.

Christopher Meltzer

Sports correspondent in Munich.

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It's Tuesday in Doha, Education City Stadium, Group D, Denmark vs. Tunisia.

And it's certainly not the players who make this football game exciting, but the fans.

More precisely: the fans who are for Tunisia.

They control this stadium so much that you can see here and there but never hear those who obviously have their fingers crossed for Denmark.

Not even when the stadium announcer announced the name of Christian Eriksen, the player who suffered cardiac arrest in the first European Championship game in Copenhagen in summer 2021 and had to be revived.

He has been playing for his national team again since March.

But the announcement by the stadium announcer could have been another emotional moment.

If only he had been noticed.

This Tuesday at Education City Stadium, where 42,925 people are watching the game, it's not the atmosphere that's lacking, it's the goals.

And because the screaming fans can't do the same, the game ends 0-0.

A felt defeat for the Danes, who most of them had previously believed more capable of.

And a perceived victory for the Tunisians.

You can tell that this tournament is something special for them.

From a sports policy point of view, they seem to be the alternative to Denmark, which is one of the European nations where this World Cup is viewed particularly critically.

It's different among the Tunisian fans.

This is also due to the fact that more than 55,000 people from Tunisia live in Qatar.

And that the national team is in a good mood.

In the first half they are even better than the Danes.

Driven on by their followers, they are closer to the gate.

Not much is missing in the 43rd minute either.

Striker Jebali is alone with the ball in the penalty area in front of Kasper Schmeichel, the Danish goalkeeper.

Jebali lobs the ball. A clever attempt.

But Schmeichel wipes it out with his right hand.

The Danes pressed in the second half.

A shot from Eriksen is saved, a header from Andreas Cornelius hits the post.

But that's about it.

In stoppage time, the referee checks whether a Tunisian player has committed a punishable handball in his own penalty area.

When checking the pictures, however, he sees a foul by a Dane and decides on a free kick.

The stadium screams.