Peru lost 1-0, with Denmark forward Yussuf Poulsen scoring the only goal in the game, held earlier on Saturday in Saransk. Peru midfielder Christian Cueva missed a penalty, sending his shot high over the crossbar.

“In my view, Peru did as much as they could to win the match and to get ahead on the scoreboard… I must say that I’m really happy to see that my players showed this commitment. We had an enormous amount of fans who came to support us, and that’s sad - they came from very-very far to see us win this match or at least to draw. I think that would have been fair,” Gareca told journalists at the post-match press conference.

The head coach added that Denmark were very effective on the field, stressing that “football is all about effectiveness.”

Denmark and Peru will play their next matches against Australia and France respectively both on Thursday.