Denmark share the spoils in goalless friendly draw against African World Cup contenders

Denmark will not be attending the World Cup, and the atmosphere in the stadium in Liege, dominated by Congolese supporters, served as a painful reminder of that for the Danish players and head coach Brian Riemer.

Andreas Christensen returned after a long-term knee injury, and the Danish centre-back appeared rusty at the start when he gifted Cedric Bakambu a significant opportunity with a misplaced back pass, yet Christensen managed to atone for his mistake by averting the danger just in time after 12 minutes.

Bakambu received another chance when he was played through with a perfect through ball, but Filip Jorgensen, who was selected ahead of Mads Hermansen as the Danish goalkeeper, made a superb reflex save with his foot.

During the final 15 minutes of the first half, Denmark's attacking players began to show some quality.

Adam Daghim, who was making his debut, had a fine opportunity to put the Danes ahead from Mathias Jensen, but the 20-year-old winger failed to hit the target from close range.

Shortly after, Joakim Maehle struck the post with a powerful long-range drive from outside the box.

Christian Eriksen, who extended his international record with his 150th appearance, and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg both tested DR Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi Nzau before the interval.

William Osula came on at the start of the second half for his debut, replacing Patrick Dorgu, who had made a disappointing impression as a winger in the first half.

The Congolese grew increasingly desperate to break the deadlock, and substitute Simon Banza was also unable to reward the crowd with a goal as Jorgensen ventured off his line to cut off the angle towards the end of the match.

It finished all square in Liege, and while DR Congo will head to the World Cup, Denmark will have to make do with a friendly against Ukraine on Sunday.