Peru 2-0 Australia
Australia join Peru in an early exit from the World Cup, after their 2-0 defeat by the South Americans in Sochi on Tuesday (June 26).
Despite already being eliminated, thanks to slender 1-0 losses against France and Denmark, Peru grabbed their first World Cup goal in 36 years, via a stunning volley from Andre Carrillo in the 18th minute.
Captain Paolo Guerrero set up Carrillo's 18th-minute wonder goal from the edge of the box with a delightful cross, then scored from a deflection five minutes after the interval to send Peru's red-and-white army of fans into ecstasy at the Fisht Stadium.
As a result, the Peruvians head home on a high note, grabbing their first World Cup win since their 4-1 defeat of Iran at the 1978 finals in Argentina.
With one point from their opening two games, Australia needed a win to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stage, but the result became academic, after France and Denmark played out the first 0-0 draw of the tournament in the other Group C fixture.
Peru finish third in Group C with three points, while the Socceroos head home bottom and with more than a few regrets.
France topped the group with seven points, with Denmark runners-up on five.
France 0-0 Denmark
Denmark secured the draw they needed against France on Tuesday (June 26) to book their place in the last 16 of the World Cup, with a dour stalemate at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.
The Danes only needed a point from the match to progress and they never looked like losing against a French side that seemed disjointed, after making six changes from their 1-0 victory over Peru - a result that put Didier Deschamps' men through with a game to spare.
The goal-less draw was enough to send Denmark through as Group C runners-up behind Les Bleus, who topped the standings on seven points - two clear of the Danes.
French coach Deschamps said topping the group was their priority heading into the match.
"We have reached our goal," Deschamps said post-match.
"It wasn't a very exciting match in the end, because the Danish team were ok with drawing, because they would qualify.
"After that, the defence was very good, but we had a number of goalscoring opportunities, as you'd remember without finding their weak points.
"So the point with the draw was good enough for them, we didn't have to take risks to do better as far as we were concerned, because this result was ok for everyone."
Both sides finished the group stages unbeaten, which means France will play the runners-up of Group D on Saturday (June 30) in Kazan, with Denmark travelling to Nizhny Novgorod to play the Group D winners a day later.
Denmark would've gone out had they lost and Australia had beaten Peru by two goals, but the Socceroos' defeat made Denmark's passage to the knockout stages a formality.
It's the first time Denmark have reached the last 16 since 2002, while France make the knockout rounds for the third time in their last four World Cup campaigns.
Newshub.