Australia reached the knockout stage of the World Cup after defeating Denmark.

The Danes, needing victory to progress, dominated possession but were caught out on the break when Australia scored the winner on the hour mark.

Denmark lost the ball in the Australian box and Mathew Leckie finished a brilliant counter-attack with a low shot past Kasper Schmeichel.

Australia finish in second place in Group D on six points, only behind world champions France on goal difference.

Denmark, meanwhile, exit Qatar 2022 in disappointing fashion, with just one point from three games, sitting bottom of the group.

Australia will now play Group C winners Argentina on Saturday.

Leckie later said: "I'm proud, exhausted, everything. Hard to describe the emotions right now, we always believed as a group we could do it.

"We had our doubters but with our spirit, our belief, our work ethic and how close we are as a group, it shows on the pitch. That last 15-20 minutes, we battled until the end and it didn't matter what they threw at us, we weren't conceding.

"So proud but again we'll make the most of it tonight but then it's all about recovery because we've got another coming up."