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Tunisia

Tunisia

It is the Tunisia National football team (Arabic the name is mntkhb Twns Lkr@ LQDM; French: Equipe de Tunisie de Football) is Tunisia's national football team of Tunisia in international football for men since its first match on June 1957, against Libya and ended with Tunisia taking a 4-2 victory. It is a team member of FIFA internationally and also the Confederation of African Football (CAF) across the continent. It is managed by the Tunisian Football Federation, which was formed on the 29th of March 1957, following Tunisia's declaration of independence. Jalel Kadri is the coach the team since the 30th of January 2022. He is accompanied by two team members Ali Boumnijel and Selim Benachour. This Tunisian National team has been referred to as"the Eagles of Carthage The team's colors are white and red like that of Tunisian flag. Its logo is the Bald Eagle. There has been a time of regular Tunisian representation at the most prestigious international level, from 1962 until 1978, and from 1994 to 2008 and in 2014 and beyond. The majority of games have been played since 2001 in the Stade Hammadi Agrebi which is situated within the town of Rades in the suburbs to the south of the capital city, Tunis. It is able to accommodate 60,000 spectators.

It was the Tunisian national team took part in three major football events each year, and was during the closing stages of five FIFA World Cups and twenty games at the Africa Cup of Nations, and took part in four editions of Olympic soccer tournaments. But, Tunisia created history in the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, in which it was one of the only African or Arab team to take home the World Cup match by defeating Mexico 3-1 in its first match at the competition as well as a tie against the current champions West Germany, before being eliminated from the group stage that eventually led to the inclusion of another team from Africa at the world Cup.

Following that, the team was able to participate in three consecutive tournaments: 1998 in France and 2002, in South Korea and Japan and 2006 in Germany and Japan, before returning for the 2018 tournament in Russia. However, despite this record, Tunisia has never succeeded in qualifying for the second round of the World Cup or the Summer Olympics.

In terms of competition In terms of rivalry, the Tunisian national team of football plays with North African teams such as Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria. In actual fact it is true that the Tunisian national team has played the teams in a variety of matches, be it via friendly games, World Cup qualifiers, Africa Cup of Nations, African Nations Championship and African Nations Cup qualifiers. Tunisia is among the teams that has had the greatest success in African tournaments, having taken home the Africa Cup of Nations at home in 2004 after losing to Morocco during the semi-final. It also reached the final in the year 1965, hosting and in 1996 at South Africa. The team also placed third during the edition of 1962. It also won third place in the 1962 edition. Tunisian team also took home an award at the African Nations Championship its first participation in the 2011 edition which occurred in Sudan.

The Tunisian national team is recognized by all sports organisations. The team was recognized in 1960. Tunisia was admitted to both the FIFA as well as the CAF as well as in 1978 the UAFA in 1978 and then the UNAF in 2005. The most devastating loss for the Tunisian team was on the 24th of July 1960 in the match against Hungary which was a loss with the score being 10-1. The biggest win was on June 12, 2015, against Djibouti with the score of 8-1. Radhi Jaidi, who played more than 105 international games has the most matches in the most number of games that were played in Tunisian nationals. Tunisian National team. While Issam Jemaa, who scored 35 goals and 36 points, has been the highest goal scorer of all time throughout the time of team. The highest position that the team has achieved on the FIFA World Rankings was 14th position in the months of April and May of 2018 and the lowest ranking of 65th was achieved in July of 2010. 17 November 2020 after having secured a qualification spot for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the Tunisian team became one of the best African team to be able to qualify for consecutive times during the course of tournament by participating for 15 consecutive times as it has not missed this tournament until 1994 and broke record. Egyptian squad's previous record for consecutive 14 appearances.

 

1. History

Please see below for more details.

1.1. Beginning (1928–1956)

Prior to independence An unofficial team was created in 1928. It consisted of the top Tunisian players of the Tunisian League. The team's first match took place on the 11th of March, 1928 in opposition to Tunisia's France national football team B; Tunisia lost 8-2. The next two friendlies, in the exact same match on the 23rd March 1930 , and on the 26th of March in 1933 also ended in heavy losses with a score of 1-6 and 0-5 respectively. Tunisia was forced have to wait till 1932 before getting their first win in a match which was a 1-0 win against French Algeria.

The majority of the matches Tunisia played during the 30s and 40s were played against French teams that included French Algeria as well as and the French military team, or the France B side, as well as an encounter with Tunisia's French National team during 1941. A majority of these games occurred at Stade Velodrome in Tunis.

The top players in the time are:

  • Gustave Ducousso (Olympique Beja): 22 caps
  • Gaetano Chiarenza (CS Hammam-Lif): 21 caps
  • Azzopardi (Olympique Beja): 19 caps
  • Larbi Ben Hassine -Larbi Bardo- (Esperance de Tunis): 16 caps
  • Rachid Sehili (Etoile du Sahel): 16 caps
  • Mehl (Racing Club) 15 caps
  • Laaroussi Tsouri (Esperance de Tunis): 15 caps
  • Ben Moussa (US Tunis): 15 caps
  • Alaya Douik (Etoile du Sahel): 14 caps
  • Dara (Sporting Club Tunis): 11 caps.

1.2. Post independence (1956–1962)

When independence was declared at the end of 1956 Tunisian footballers took necessary measures to form an entirely national body that would be able to replace Tunisian Football League (an an offshoot from the French Football Federation). These actions led to the establishment of the Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) led by Chedly Zouiten and was approved on March 29th, 1957. It was recognized as an official public service and a public utility, the FTF has since stepped up investment in its dual purpose of promoting soccer and managing national competitions and the various teams that represent Tunisia in international tournaments. In spite of this the national team of Tunisia has been established prior to independence.

Tunisian coach , Rachid Turki has been named as the first Tunisian coach. A friendly match was played two days before the independence date, and it was played in the front of Southwest French team. Tunisia won the match due to the goal scored by Ghariani. The Tunisian team consisted of: Zine el-Abidine Chennoufi, Sadok Dhaou (then Mohieddine Zeghir), Azaiez Jaballah Driss Messaoud Hassen Tasco Abdou Beji, Ali Hannachi Haj Ali Amedee Scorsone Hedi Braiek Noureddine Diwa Khemais Ghariani.

It was reported that the Tunisian team played a game against their Austrian squad FC Admira Wacker Modling on 30 December in the same year. The team won 4-1 with two goals scored by Diwa Braiek and Diwa Braiek along with the Tunisian team consisted of : Mohamed Bennour (then Houcine El Bez), Youssef Sehili Azaiez Jaballah Mokhtar Ben Nacef Mehrez Jelassi Abdou Beji Ali Hannachi << Haj Ali >>, Abderrahman Ben Ezzedine, Hedi Braiek, Noureddine Diwa (then Khemais Ghariani), Hammadi Henia

Tunisia was granted independence from France on the 20th of March in 1956. Tunisia gained independence from France on March 20, 1956. Tunisian Football Federation was founded on the 29th of March, 1957. It was incorporated into FIFA along with the Confederation of African Football in 1960. The nation of Tunisia had their first match against Algeria on the 1st of June in 1957, during the middle of the Algerian War; Tunisia lost 1-1. They played their first official game during the 1956 Pan Arab Games where they defeated Libya 4-3 following the very first Tunisian goal in a formal tournament by Farzit. They also made it past Iraq and Lebanon but lost in the final to Syria 3-1.

In 1960 in 1960, it was the Yugoslavian Milan Kristic to be the first foreigner to head the national team. Tunisia was selected for the 1960's Summer Olympics in their debut international competition after having beaten Malta, Morocco and Sudan on July 24, 1960. On that day the team suffered the biggest loss of their history in a 10-1 loss to Hungary. In less than one month later on 18 august 1960 Tunisia achieved their greatest win, a crushing 8-1 victory of Taiwan. For it was the Olympic Games, the results were poor during the opening match and despite the start of the score by Kerrit at the end of third minutes the Polish team was back to the field and took the win 6-1. They also fell to Argentina at 2-1, before losing yet again, this time against Denmark 3-1.

1.3. Golden generation (1962–1978)

Frane Matosic was chosen to head the team as his second Yugoslav director of the Tunisian team following Kristic was the one who led Tunisia to be able to participate in the Olympics. The year 1962 was the first time that Tunisia was a participant in the African Cup of Nations qualifying tournament at the beginning of the tournament for the first time. Tunisia was selected for the competition after beating Morocco as well as Nigeria and was able to finish third after defeating Uganda in the third-place game. Tunisian Federation has hired French head coach Andre Gerard to train the team, and to continue working for foreign coaching. The team was successful in winning in 1963 the Arab Cup to be the first national championship for the team after achieving remarkable performances, including wins against Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Kuwait.

Tunisia was also a participant in at the 1963 Africa Cup of Nations despite being eliminated from the first round. CAF determined that Tunisia will be the host for 1965's Africa Cup of Nations, in spite of the fact that just nine years have been since the independence of the nation, along with a prestigious generation of athletes, most particularly Abdelmajid Chetali and Attouga who made it to the final after defeating Ethiopia 4-1 in the opening game at Stade Chedly Zouiten and then losing the match 3-2 to Ghana during extra-time of the final. Despite their early victory, Tunisia did not enter the Cup of Nations again until 1976 in Ethiopia and didn't get a spot until 1978. However, in 1973 Tunisia entered the Palestine Cup of Nations and triumphed in a dominant manner and won all six matches beating Syria, Egypt, Palestine, Yemen and Iraq, scoring 19 goals and allowing only three goals to one of the Tunisian Coach Ameur Hizem.

It was February 25, 1975. following an in-depth experience with the Hungarian trainer Andre Nagy, the coach of ES Sahel, Abdelmajid Chetali was appointed. This was in conjunction with the returning of the team the tournament in the African Cup of Nations before taking on Sudan before they were able to be able to qualify following the absence from 13 years back in the year 1978, after beating Egypt as well as Guinea when it came to qualifying. The same time the team was able to be the first team to qualify at the FIFA World Cup in 1978 after an impressive performance in qualifying under the leadership of a distinguished generation including Mokhtar Dhouib Nejib Ghommidh Raouf Ben Aziza, and Tarak Dhiab. They've reserved the sole African spot by going to teams like Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt. Prior to this World Cup, Tunisia competed in the African Cup and won Uganda to make it to the semi-finals. They lost to hosts Ghana and a third-place match against Nigeria. Tunisia had a lead at first but, after Nigeria scored an controversial goal in the 42nd minutes the Tunisians left the field in protest , and Nigeria were given a 2-0 win by default. In the World Cup in Argentina, Tunisia immediately made an impression after coming from behind after their preparations were not up to par after a draw against Hungary at 2-2, and then a defeat of France by 2-0. They also suffered a major defeat to Netherlands 4-1.

In the opening game, Mexico managed to advance with a penalty during the first period to finish the half 1-0 to Mexico. Mexican team. Prior to the start of the second half Tunisian coach Chetali was seen throwing the Tunisian flag before players and left the changing area. Tunisia returned to the game following Ali Kaabi scored the equalizer for Tunisia to become one of the very first Tunisian footballer to get the World Cup goal in the 55th minute, before adding two goals to end the match 3-1. 

In the second game they put on a great performance against Poland but fell 1-0. However, in the final game, they were close to defeat the champions of the world West Germany before the game ended in a 0-0 draw. The performance has been appreciated by the majority of experts who didn't expect to see it. It has led to the increase in numbers of African teams who have been selected for participation in the World Cup to become two. The team was welcomed at the airport of Tunis-Carthage International by Tunisians. The reception was hosted the Tunisian the President Habib Bourguiba, telling the team that they had completed the role of 50 ambassadors. This was as they helped to make international recognition and prestigious image of Tunisia internationally.

After this performance that was impressive the head coach Abdelmajid Chetali decided to resign after a period of remarkable success in which he was able to make it to an elite level of the Tunisian national team at the international level. But the time following the resignation of Chetali will be full of problems that have gone on for many years.

1.4. Decline (1978–1994)

After their first encounter with World Cup football, Tunisia suffered a rapid decline following the departure of Tunisian coaches like Ameur Hizem as well as Hmid Dhib who pulled the team from the World Cup qualifiers in 1982 against Nigeria despite the participation of numerous players who had played in the previous tournament. In the years between 1980 and 1992 Tunisia was able to be able to participate in only two tournaments, in 1982's African Cup of Nations and the 1988 Summer Olympics - and in both, they were eliminated during the opening round. Actually, Tunisia qualified for the African Cup hosted by neighbor Libya with Polish coach Ryszard Kulesza, who was banned in the 1980 African Cup but achieved negative results: they drew with Cameroon 1-1 in the opening match, but then lost to Libya by 2-0, and Ghana 1-1 to be withdrawn only by one point. Kulesza did not get into in 1984 for the African Cup after the defeat against Egypt and this led to his exile. The coach Youssef Zouaoui was entrusted to lead the team. He started off well with wins in friendly matches against Nigeria 5-1 and Canada 2 - 2. He also beat Benin as well as Guinea in the opening round of World Cup qualifiers in 1986. However, he did not be able to qualify for in 1986's African Cup of Nations after the loss by the Libyan team that was dominant in the time. However, that didn't stop them from reaching the final phase of World Cup qualifiers by beating Nigeria before losing the face of Algeria who had qualified for the second time.

Former Cameroon head coach Jean Vincent was hired but was not able to make it to 1998's African Cup in Morocco after losing against Algeria. Also, he had disastrous outcomes in the Football at the African Games which included defeats against Cameroon, Madagascar and Kenya. The team immediately fired him.

Taoufik Ben Othman was appointed as the assistant coach of Chetali's team from 1978. The results improved since they were able to qualify to play in their first Olympic Games after surpassing Morocco (thanks to the goal scored by Tarak Dhiab in the final second) and Egypt during the qualifying games, but Ben Othman was sacked days prior to the start of the tournament due to their poor performance during their 1988 Arab Cup and the failure to score a victory in their games with Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq and the disappointing results from games with Malta, Finland and East Germany. In the meantime, Polish head coach Antoni Piechniczek was hired temporarily and was in charge of the team during the initial stage of World Cup qualifiers 1990 and as well in the finals of Olympic Games where results were not great after a draw against China with 0-0 and Sweden 2-3 and a crushing defeat against West Germany 1-4.

Mokhtar Tlili was hired as coach, however the results were not improved by not being able to qualify for African Cup in Algeria 1990 following the humiliation suffered by Senegal that led to his departure as well as the appointment of Antoni Piechniczek. Piechniczek was not successful in qualifying for the World Cup qualifiers in 1990 after losing in the final round to Cameroon to sign a contract with coach Mrad Mahjoub.

While he did not be a participant in his country's participation in the African Cup again, the organization reaffirmed its faith in him due to his impressive performance delivered in the qualifying matches, as they were eliminated on goal difference against Egypt as well as taking the title to Belgium at a match that was a friendly game but his early withdrawal out of World Cup qualifiers in 1994 was the reason for his dismissal following the draw against Morocco to be substituted with coach Youssef Zouaoui prior to his team was selected for the 1994 African Cup to be hosted in Tunisia which is why the team managed to end this streak when they hosting the African Cup of Nations replacing the original hosts Zaire however the outcome was a disaster and unanticipated with a loss by Mali 2 to 0 in the opening match on El Menzah Stadium in front of 45,000 people, which led to the expulsion of Zouaoui after the first match and was compensated through Faouzi Benzarti, who drew with Zaire in the second match and finished last in the group.

1.5. Beginning of Resurgence (1994–2002)

After concluding that the decline of Tunisian football after which it was decided to select a coach who has knowledge of African football game well. A former head coach at Cote Ivoire Henryk Kasperczak was appointed, and the team's performance slowly improved. They qualified to play in the African Cup for the first time in 14 years with the qualification process following their victories over Liberia as well as Senegal. In the 1996 finals of the African Cup of Nations, Tunisia started badly following drawing with Mozambique and a loss to Ghana however, they came in 2nd in the group making it into the quarter-finals, surpassing this stage for only the second time since 1978 following having beaten Cote d'Ivoire 3-1. Tunisia was able to defeat Gabon in the quarterfinals and Zambia during the semifinals by a score of 4-2 to make it to their first major final in the last 31 years but they fell to host South Africa 2-0. This was well-received by Tunisian supporters who did think they would see this kind of performance from the team that is led by the new generation of players, particularly Chokri El Ouaer Zoubeir Baya as well as Adel Sellimi. They were also welcomed by the president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali at the airport. At the time, Tunisia was able to participate in for the 1996 Olympic Games after surpassing Guinea. The team didn't perform as expected following their defeat to Portugal as well as that of the United States with the same result of 2-0, in addition to the draw against Argentina 1-1 that eliminated Tunisia from qualifying for the Group Stage. Under the direction of Kasperczak they were able to qualify for 1998's Africa Cup of Nations after winning Guinea as well as Sierra Leone and qualified for the quarter-finals in the top of the group, by sweeping DR Congo, Togo and defeat against Ghana. In the quarter-finals, they were knocked out through a penalty shootout against the host nation Burkina Faso. The team was able to qualify for the second stage of World Cup qualifiers after beating Rwanda. Tunisia received a place in second group along alongside Egypt and Egypt, which was an excellent candidate for qualification. However, Tunisia did manage to get into at the 1998 FIFA World Cup for the second time in its history. It was the first time since it was 20 years ago after having won Egypt, Liberia and Namibia.

The team took part in a few games in preparation for their participation in the World Cup with Wales (won 4-1), Austria (lost 1-2) and Chile (lost 3-4). The final games saw them were unable to make it to the group stage by losing two-to-one against England as well as 1-0 against Colombia while draw 1-1 against Romania.

Kasperczak was dismissed and replaced by Italian director Francesco Scoglio, who qualified the team for the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations ideally after winning against Algeria, Uganda and Liberia. Tunisia was able to make it to the quarterfinals of the tournament for the third time, but with a lot of difficulty following losing in the opening round against Nigeria and the triumph in the final against Congo in the second round and draw Morocco in the process of allowing the team to make it into the semi-final after beating Egypt but then lost three games to Cameroon and finished the tournament fourth losing to South Africa on penalty shootout.

The next time, Scoglio quit to return to Genoa CFC, sparking a period of extreme instability. The German coach, Eckhard Krautzun was named coach and the team was qualified for the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations however, with difficulties with the group which included Morocco, Gabon and Kenya and he was able to lead his team into winning the World Cup in South Korea and Japan for the third time in the history of the team with a challenging group which included Cote d'Ivoire as well as the DR Congo. Krautsen was dismissed unexpectedly in spite of the positive results following an argument with Tunisian Football Federation officials.

Henri Michel replaced him, however, he was dismissed at the time Tunisia fell out of in the 2002 African Cup of Nations without scoring a single goal following the draw against Senegal as well as Zambia and a defeat to Egypt. Then, Ammar Souayah took over just in time for 2003's World Cup; The team was drawn in friendly matches against Norway as well as South Korea and were defeated by Denmark and Slovenia. The finals were a disappointment. Tunisia did not fare better than their the 1998 results and drew 1-1 with Belgium but losing 2 -0 in the final to Russia along with co-hosts Japan and Japan. The federation is now looking for a bigger coach prior to the commencement for 2004's 2004 African Cup hosted by Tunisia.

1.6. Lemerre era: African domination (2002–2008)

Prior to the introduction the new head coach to prepare to take the squad for the coming African Cup, which will take place in Tunisia the team played 1-1 with France at the Stade on 7 November. The Tunisian list of new coaches comprised of Artur Jorge Vahid Halilhodzic Gilbert Gress as well as Philippe Troussier. In September 2002 the Tunisian Football Federation announced that they were negotiating a deal for a new coach Roger Lemerre, the former coach of France. On the 25th of September 2002 Lemerre was confirmed as the new head coach of the Tunisian Football Federation. Tunisian Football Federation confirmed Lemerre as the the new coach. Lemerre was the coach for his first game against Egypt on the 20th of November, 2002.

As a host nation, Tunisia did not need to be eligible for in 2004's African Cup of Nations, which it played DR Congo, Rwanda and Guina in the group stage. The team took the lead in its opening game against Rwanda with a score of 2-1, and the second game against DR Congo 3-0. Tunisia was ranked on top in the group following an 1-1 draw against Guinea. In the quarterfinals they took on Senegal who were quarter-finalists in 2002's FIFA World Cup, they defeated Senegal 1-0, and with Jawhar Mnari scoring the winner in the second period. In the semi-finals Tunisia played Nigeria which eliminated Cameroon but qualified via penalties that Tunisia defeated 5-3. The victory ensured that Tunisia made it to the final in which it was to face Morocco.

In Stade 7 Novembre, Tunisia began off on an impressive start and took a 1-0 lead after just four minutes, thanks to Mehdi Nafti's focus being boosted by Francileudo Santos, who scored their fourth goal of the tournament. The match ended at the end of the first period, Morocco was at the same level as Youssouf Hadji's goal thanks to an upwards lift which Youssef Mokhtari drove towards the net. The second half was completed in seven minutes before another Tunisian striker, Ziad Jaziri, beat Tunisia 1-1, giving Tunisia their debut African Cup of Nations title. The Tunisians also won the African National Team of the Year award from the Confederation of African Football. This award has led to the nickname of the team"the "Eagles of Carthage" and the result is that the badge of the team is altered to include an Eagle. Lemerre was an early coach who won continental championships. He earlier been the winner of Euro 2000 with France.

It was the Tunisian team, who won its debut African Cup of Nations title which allowed them to get into their participation in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Germany and were part of an extremely competitive group that included the hosts Germany, Argentina and Australia. The first match of the tournament was played between Tunisia against Argentina, Tunisia lost by only a slender margin, 2 - 1. In the second game Tunisia fought back until the 74th minute. Tunisians were able to hold their ground till the final minute when they conceded three goals to their German team to win the game. In the third game, they were able to defeat Australia with a score of 2-0. They left positive impressions. In the same year Tunisia's Tunisian national team participated in the World Cup qualifying matches in 2006 and was successful in defeating Guinea (lost 1-1, won by 2-0), Kenya (win 1-0 and win 2-0), Malawi (draw 2-2 and win 7-0), Botswana (win 4-1 with a win of 3-1) and, finally Morocco that drew the teams to a 2-2 draw in the final game in the Stade 7 November, before a crowd of 60,000 people that allowed to allow the Tunisian team to be selected for their fourth World for the first time in history, and the third time in succession. This was a confirmation of the Tunisian dominance of Africa, following the absence of the major African teams. Tunisia became the sole African team to qualify to play in this year's World Cup, and which was previously in. In the next year, they were unable to keep their title. They lost against Nigeria in the quarter-finals of the tournament on penalties, despite an excellent start to the group stage, after beating Zambia with a score of 4-1, and South Africa 2-0. The preparations for their World Cup began as early when the team was defeated by Serbia and Montenegro on March 1st, 2006.

The Federation has also announced at the end of the month it will host a smaller tournament prior to the World Cup, an edition of the LG Cup, which will be hosted by Belarus, Libya and Uruguay. This month, Lemerre led his squad to a camp for training in Switzerland in which they played international friendly matches with Swiss clubs.

It was 2006 when the FIFA World Cup kicked off with the opening match on June 14 in the match against Saudi Arabia. As Tunisia gained ground with the goal of Ziad Jaziri Saudi Arabia managed to return and score two goals, however in the closing moments of the match Tunisia ended the game with an 2-2 draw thanks to the fatal goal scored by Radhi Jaidi. Lemerre was unhappy by the outcome.

In the second game, Tunisia faced Spain led by Raul Gonzalez, Iker Casillas, Carles Puyol and Sergio Ramos. Tunisia was in a strong start and scored their first goal, scored by Jawhar Mnari. But, Spain made offensive changes in the second period, as did Raul Gonzalez along with his teammates were able to counterattack the goalkeeper Ali Boumnijel, who scored the equalizer just five minutes later, Fernando Torres scored the second goal for Spain after which, at the end of 90 minutes an injury-time penalty finished the game with 3-1.

Lemerre also stressed the fact that Tunisia must win its final match against Ukraine for a chance to progress for the round of 16. In the final match, Tunisia must beat Ukraine. In the game, the referee declared a possible penalty kick by Andriy Shevchenko. The match concluded with an 1-0 score, Tunisia were removed from their group. Tunisian supporters and media criticized Lemerre's performance throughout the tournament. In the same year, Hatem Trabelsi announced his retirement from international football following eight years. Lemerre continued to play until the end of his contract, and Lemerre was the one to lead Tunisia to be selected for at the 2009 African Cup of Nations. For the qualification round, Tunisia played Mauritius, Sudan, and Seychelles. After four wins and a draw Tunisia was beaten 3-2 defeat against Sudan and came in second place at the end of the qualifier round. But, Tunisia were among the most favored team to take home the trophy due to its impressive performance in recent times, in addition to the presence of seven players from the Etoile du Sahel champions of the CAF Champions League, and Tunisia was qualified for the quarterfinals. Tunisia was ranked in the top spot of the group following drawing in their opening match against Senegal with 2-2 and a 3-1 defeat to South Africa, In the third game, it played Angola and the game ended at 0-0. They were defeated by Cameroon 3-1 in extra time. After the game it was announced that Lemerre will remain Tunisia's coach until at least the end of June. The preparations for qualifying matches started in March after winning the match game against Ivory Coast 2-0. Before the start of qualifying matches Tunisian Football Federation Tunisian Football Federation negotiated with Bertrand Marchand and Jacques Santini however neither could come to an agreement in conjunction with the Tunisian Football Federation. The alternative was that Portuguese Humberto Coelho took over as coach. appointed coach on the 3rd of June, 2008. Before being appointed, Lemerre led Tunisia for only one occasion in the 4th World Cup qualifier match against Burundi that ended in an 1-0 win. On June 30, 2008, Roger Lemerre leaves Tunisia Six years later, and the longest period of training in time of Tunisian National team.

1.7. Disappointments (2008–2014)

Coelho was appointed coach following Roger Lemerre left the national team on June 30, 2008. The qualifying continued in September, with Coelho's match against Burkina Faso and a large victory over Seychelles with a score of 5-0. The game opened the way for Tunisia to advance to the third round of qualifying in Group B. The draw will see Tunisia will play Nigeria, Mozambique and Kenya. Prior to the beginning of the qualifiers Tunisia suffered a loss in an informal match against France 3-3, and then managed an unexpected draw of 1-1 with the Netherlands. On the 28th of March 2009 Tunisia started the qualification by winning 2-1 in their first match against Kenya. The next qualifier match will be on June 8, Coelho participated in an informal match with Sudan which ended in a 4-0 win at home. Tunisia took part in its second qualifying game against Mozambique. The match concluded with a 2-0 win. The third game was played on the 20th of June 2009 against Nigeria. Tunisia won their group in two matches, with an all-time high score, while Nigeria scored just four points. The match finished 0-0. The second phase of the qualifiers was played the match in September. In the between, Tunisia played a friendly match against Ivory Coast ended 0-0. Following that, the fourth qualifier match took place in Abuja. In the final minute, Darragi scored the equalizer and the game ended at in a draw.

On the 11th of October, 2009 Tunisia was playing Kenya and scored after just one minute at the Stade 7 November. Just a few days later, Tunisia lost to Saudi Arabia unexpectedly. The final qualifying round was held in November. For Tunisia at a minimum, an draw was sufficient to be able to participate in at least the World Cup. But they lost the final and crucial game with the score at 83 minutes. Thus, Tunisia did not qualify for this year's FIFA World Cup, but was selected to play in the 2011 Africa Cup of Nations. A few days later Tunisia's Tunisian Football Federation sacked coach Humberto Coelho, and simultaneously named Faouzi Benzarti as the new coach to manage the national team during the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations. The coach was also dismissed after Tunisia had been eliminated in the first round where the three games were played to Zambia, Gabon and Cameroon. The session ended at the lowest of their group. In June of 2010, Bertrand Marchand was appointed coach on a two-year deal and the goal was making it to the semi-finals of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations especially following the outstanding performances he had achieved through Etoile Sportive du Sahel at the African and international level. But, the qualifying campaign started off poorly and the team suffered two defeats against Botswana and a draw with Malawi after defeating Togo 2 to 1, and then stunning against Botswana with a 1-0 win, which placed the Tunisian team in the 65th position of the FIFA World Rankings, the lowest in the history of the organization . On the 15th of December, 2010, following an gathering with the Federal Bureau, Bertrand Marchand was removed from his position.

In 2011 Tunisia was hit by political developments and the brand new head coach Sami Trabelsi, was named. The same time, CAF created a new tournament, specifically for national teams of the local region. Tunisia took part in the qualification match against Morocco and was able to qualify. In the absence of preparation they are ready for this year's 2011 African Nations Championship. and came in at the highest position in the tournament following the draw of 1-1 against Angola and a 3-1 win against Rwanda and another 2-0 win against Senegal in the quarter-finals they beat the current champions DR Congo and in the semi-finals, Tunisia won Algeria on penalties. In the final game they defeated Angola comfortably with a score of 3-0. However, their opponents were Oman. Eagles of Carthage lost to Oman on March 29, with a score of 2-1 in an informal match. On October 8 the team qualified to play in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations after defeating Togo in a 2-0 win. After a strong start, they won against Morocco with 2-1, Niger with two goals scored by Youssef Msakni and the team fell 1-0 against the host nation Gabon. Tunisia has been eliminated from the quarterfinals following additional games against Ghana 2-1. On February 29, 2012, they played Peru 1-1. On the 29th of May they beat in a 5-1 win over Rwanda 5-1. In 2014's World Cup qualifications, Tunisia will be part of a group consisting of Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone; 3-1 to beat Equatorial Guinea 3-1 and Cape Verde 2-1.

Then they qualified on 13 October 2013 for the Africa Cup of Nations despite two draw against Sierra Leone 2-2 and 0-0. In the opening match, Tunisia snatched victory in the final moments, with a 1-0 win over Algeria with the goal that was the best in the 2013 edition of Youssef Msakni. Then, Tunisia were beaten to a 3-0 loss by Ivory Coast 3-0. The final game ended in a the draw of 1-1 against Togo. In February of 2013, Nabil Maaloul replaced Sami Trabelsi. In their two first 2013 FIFA World Cup qualifications, Tunisia defeated Sierra Leone 2-1 and clinched the draw with a drawing in Freetown. On June 16, during the 5th round in the stage of group play Tunisia was tied 1-1 with Equatorial Guinea. The following day, on the 7th September Tunisia was defeated in the home match to Cape Verde 0-2 and loses any chance of qualifying to this year's World Cup. Nabil Maaloul announces that he will resign. On September 12, however, FIFA qualifies Tunisia after Cape Verde is disqualified for fraud. Following last year's World Cup qualifiers, the Eagles of Carthage face Cameroon, Tunisia give a 0-0 draw at home but fall in their home games against Cameroon 4-1, which means they lose their qualification. Coach Ruud Krol is dismissed after just two games.

1.8. Back to improvement (2014–present)

Belgian manager Georges Leekens was appointed in early 2014 to get the team back on track. The first results were good and included a 1-1 draw in the match against Colombia as well as a 1-1 victory against South Korea, both in friendly games. The team under Leekens went from 49th place to 22nd position in a only a couple of months in FIFA rankings. The team was able to regain its continental glory with the arrival of a new generation players. Tunisia was selected to play in the 2015 African Cup of Nations and ended up top of their group which included Senegal, Egypt and Botswana.

In the finals of this event, Tunisia finished top of their group for the first time since winning Zambia by 2-1, and drawing with Cape Verde and DR Congo in the same way, 1-1 however, they were eliminated from the quarter-finals due to an unpopular 2-1 loss to hosting Equatorial Guinea making CAF banned the referee Rajindraparsad Seechurn for six months for his "poor performance" in the tournament. In June 2015 Leekens quit unexpectedly for security reasons , after he brought back the glamour that the squad had enjoyed. Then, in July of 2015 Henryk Kasperczak returned as coach after 17 years. He managed to qualify his group for this year's African Cup in the lead by winning against Liberia, Togo and Djibouti. He also made it to the quarter-finals of the competition , after defeating Algeria as well as Zimbabwe 4-2, before losing in the second stage, but this time to Burkina Faso 2-0. The loss in the friendly games with Cameroon and Morocco with the same outcome of 1-0, led to the demotion of Kasperczak. On April 27, 2017 Nabil Maaloul was appointed coach, despite the disapproval from the Tunisian supporters due to the lack of success in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, but this time, he was able to qualify Tunisia to play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia for the fifth time in the history of Tunisia and for the first time since 12 years since having won against DR Congo, Guinea and Libya during the qualification.

Tunisia's selection to play in qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and its excellent results in friendly matches with Iran as well as Costa Rica led to its rising to 14th on the FIFA World Rankings for the first time in history, following being the first among African teams and beating teams such as Italy as well as Netherlands. The team continued to show excellent performances prior to this year's World Cup, with a draw against Turkey and Portugal in the same score of 2-2, and a tough loss against Spain at 1-0 at the end of 85 minutes.

In spite of this, at that World Cup, the performance of the team failed to reach the level expected which led to them being removed from group play. In the first game against England both teams had played in 1998 at the FIFA World Cup. England scored through Harry Kane. In the tenth minute, Tunisia was equalized by a penalty kick. After the added interval, Kane scored the second goal for his team. In the second game against Belgium The two teams were playing each other in their 2002 FIFA World Cup. The game ended with a score of 5-2 to Belgium and Tunisia suffered the worst loss they have ever suffered throughout the World Cup history. In the final game against Panama both teams had never previously played. Tunisia took the win 2-1. It was their first win after forty years after their 3-1 win against Mexico in 1978.

In the wake of this poor performance, the Tunisian team was widely criticized for its lack of performance as well as the team's questionable performance at the World Cup, and fell out of the top 20 teams in the FIFA rankings. The team had an uninvolved experience with Faouzi Benzarti who managed to make it into the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations over Egypt, Niger and Eswatini before being terminated because of conflicts that he had with head of the Tunisian Football Federation Wadie Jary. In December of 2018, French coach Alain Giresse was appointed to manage the team in the 2019 AFCON finals because of his expertise in African football as well as his impressive performance as a player for his French National team. Despite his excellent performances in friendly matches, including beating World Cup finalist Croatia 2-1 and a 1-0 win over Croatia, the beginning of the tournament was abysmal following three draws during the group stage with Angola, Mali, and Mauritania to make it through to the Round 16 with a lot of difficulty in second. In the following round they improved their results by winning 3-0 against Ghana and Madagascar 3-1 to make it to the semi-finals, for the first occasion in the last 15 years. Tunisia was the winner of in the AFCON in 2004, but they narrowly defeated Senegal 1-1 in extra-time following a dispute with the referee over Bamlak Tessema for the decision not to award a penalty to Tunisia four minutes prior to the end of the match to finish the tournament with a fourth-place finish after Nigeria. It was, however, the most impressive performance by Tunisia since winning the 2004 AFCON in Tunisia's home stadium.

Following the 2018 Africa Cup of Nations, Alain Giresse gives up and the Tunisian Mondher Kebaier takes over on August 27, 2019 to manage the team. The preparations for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification start with several friendly games playing, a win by 1-0 against Mauritania but a loss of to 2-1 Ivory Coast and a draw against Cameroon. While this is happening, Tunisia plays the for 2020 African Nations Championship qualification against Libya and prevailed 1-0 [169] followed by a with a score of 2-1. However it was announced that the Tunisian Football Federation withdrew due to scheduling pressure. Twenty21 Africa Cup of Nations qualification are set in three groups, with Tunisia playing Libya, Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania. The first game against Libya concluded with a massive victory of 4-1. There was a second away win was scored against Equatorial Guinea was won with the goal by Khazri. In the meantime, the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification draw is scheduled to take place, and Tunisia draws once more alongside Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania and Zambia. After a long absence due to the COVID-19 epidemic The national team is back and will play two friendly matches in preparation for the remaining games of 2021's Africa Cup of Nations qualification against Sudan with a 3-0 win in addition to Nigeria with a 1-1 draw. In the qualifying matches, the Tunisian team has four games to play, including against Tanzania and Tanzania, with a 1-0 victory, then a 1-1 draw as well as a huge victory against Libya in Benghazi with a score of 5-2, and a win against Equatorial Guinea 2-1; the team finished in the top position of the group, with five victories and one draw. The team play three more friendly matches, including winning 1-0 against the Congo [181] at home, a defeat against Algeria with a score of 0-2, and a win against Mali with a score of 1-0.

In September 2021 the national team started their matches in the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification with three consecutive wins against Equatorial Guinea 3-1 in Ndola, in Ndola 2-0, Zambia in Ndola 2-0 , and against Mauritania 3-1, which was followed by an 0-0 drawing with Mauritania in Nouakchott with 0-0, and then losing against Equatorial Guinea at Malabo 0-1, which led to harsh criticism from supporters. The qualification for the play-offs takes place by winning against Zambia 3-1. The final score was four wins as well as a draw and loss. Meanwhile, Qatar hosted the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup. Tunisia was able to qualify directly, thanks in the FIFA World Rankings. Tunisia began with a huge victory, winning 5-1, against Mauritania. The team then suffered an unexpected loss to Syria after which they beat their opponents the United Arab Emirates 1-0. In the quarterfinals, the team made improvements and defeated Oman by a score of 2-1. In the semi-finals, Tunisia collided with their adversaries Egypt and, in the midst of a tight match. Tunisia scored an equalizer at the end of the 90th minute. The win allows Tunisia to make it to its debut FIFA final in its history. In the final game that took place, Tunisia's Tunisian national team played Algeria and were defeated by a score of 2-0 in overtime. In spite of losing the title but the team's performance given the fans a sense of confidence. In this regard they are honored by FIFA and are named the top fans of this tournament.

The participation of the team in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations was quite a disaster. in the first group it started with an 0-1 loss to Mali in the first match which was marred by strange refereeing incidents in which Zambian ref Janny Sikazwe stopped the game within the 85th minute. In the second game the team scored an emotional victory over Mauritania with a score of 4-0 due to the goal double of Wahbi Khazri, as well as the goals scored by Hamza Mathlouthi, and Seifeddine Jaziri. However, the team suffered the loss of 0-1 to Gambia in the final minutes of the game, and get into Round 16 in the top third-placed team in this group.

However, the team beat the formidable Nigeria by 1-0 thanks to the goal of Youssef Msakni outside the penalty area even though Mondher Kebaier the game due to an illness with COVID-19 as well as being substituted by teammate Jalel Kadri. The final result was that the team was eliminated from the quarterfinals in the quarter-finals against Burkina Faso after a 0-1 loss. After this disappointing experience, Mondher Kebaier was dismissed from the coaching position of the national team 3 years following his hiring, and an appointment was made of the assistant coach Jalel Kadri. to succeed him. In the meantime, the selection for the final round in African 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying was held, and it led to a home and forth match against Mali. In the opening leg in the Stade du 26 Mars in Bamako, Tunisia won out of the rules by 1-0 thanks the Mali's Moussa Sissako's goal, which came due to tension from Youssef Msakni. As for the match that was played at Stade Hammadi Agrebi in front of 50,000 people and ended in an 0-0 draw, meaning this means that the Tunisian team was selected to play in this year's FIFA World Cup for the sixth time in its history. The preparations began early, as the Tunisian team was invited to participate in at the 2022 Kirin Cup Soccer tournament in Japan in the presence from four different teams: Japan, Chile, Ghana and Tunisia. In the semi-finals Tunisia defeated Chile by 2-0, and also scored a historic win over organised Japan 3-1 to claim the Kirin Cup Soccer title for the first time. Ferjani Sassi has been named as the most outstanding player in the tournament, while his teammate Issam Jbali was crowned as the highest scorer, scoring two goals.

2. Home stadium

Following the declaration of independence for Tunisia in 1956 The Tunisian nation's stadium became named Chedly Zouiten Stadium. It has capacity of 18,000 and played host to all games for Tunisia's national team. Tunisian team. It also hosted the 1995 as well as 1994 African Cup of Nations and the 1977 FIFA U-20 World Cup before it was replaced following it was built El Menzah Stadium (45,000) in 1967 to host the 1967 Mediterranean Games. The first Tunisian match played at the stadium took place on the 8th of September, 1967 against Libya. Tunisia took the victory by 3-0. The stadium became the latest home for the Eagles of Carthage. It was the venue for in 1977 the FIFA World Youth Championship and was renovated completely to host in 1994 for the African Cup of Nations. It also hosted in 2004 the AFCON.

In 2001 in 2001, the 7 November Stadium was inaugurated as Tunisia's National Stadium ahead of the 2001 Mediterranean Games. It is located in Rades the stadium is home to an all-seat capacity for 60,000. The first game played in the stadium was played on July 7, 2001 the teams of Etoile du Sahel and CS Hammam-Lif to play the Tunisian Cup final. CS Hammam-Lif won the match by 1-0 with Anis Ben Chouikha scoring the only goal. Since then, Tunisia has used the stadium for nearly every major home fixture and even in 2004 the African Cup of Nations Final. The Tunisians usually play their games on the Stade Mustapha Ben Jannet in Monastir with an capacity of 10,000.

There are several venues that are home to Tunisia's national team. Tunisian team, for instance, Tunisia's Olympic Stadium located in Sousse that hosted an international friendly fixture with Tunisia as well as Switzerland during November of 2012. It also played host to a match during the 2012 AFCON qualification match between Tunisia and Chad that was defeated by Tunisia five-to-five. Municipal Stadium of Gabes was also selected to host an international friendly game with Tunisia and Mauritania that ended in an unfinished draw in October of 2016.

3. Team image

Detail as below.

3.1. Supporters

The fans who support Tunisian football Tunisian national team carry the flag of the nation and usually, with a strong emphasis on the red component. One of the most memorable moment to team Tunisian squad was the moment when Tunisian team at the International Airport in Tunisia received the warm "welcome home" following the epic 1978 match that thrilled the Tunisians who are still able to recall the events and the amazing effort of the Tunisians was acknowledged for bringing a new level of qualifying in Africa to participate in World Cup. World Cup.

The team's popularity was also evident during the 2004 African Cup of Nations in Tunisia which was a place where attendance was high during the tournament. In the Stade 7 November in Rades was packed with 60,000 fans during the six games during the competition. The team's demise following their 2006 World Cup lead to their being absent from the final stages of the following two world championships, which affected their standing. The stadiums were virtually empty for the national team's games during the time frame. Between 2008 between 2008 and 2014, local media have accused the Tunisian team of their lack of performance.

The fans who kept cheering on the team in tough circumstances, Bechir Manoubi was one of the most loyal. He was a regular at the team's games throughout the world since 1960. He was known for his Mexican cap and his uniform that carried a multitude of cards and slogans for the many events that he covered. This year's World Cup qualifying match on 6 October 2005, between Tunisia and Morocco and Morocco, which took place only a few days before that he passed away, would be the final occasion he attended.

The appearance of highly skilled players and the rise of a promising generation, along with positive results in the final term under Henryk Kasperczak, has increased fan's enthusiasm and faith in an enduring World Cup campaign. In light of this popularity surge, FIFA named the Tunisian fans among the top of this year's FIFA World Cup. This is a result of the massive attendance of Tunisian crowd, who flocked to Russia in huge numbers, ranging from 15 and 20 thousand supporters who attended and backed the Tunisian team in three group matches at the World Cup. But, the support of fans fell when Tunisia was unable to meet the expectations of its fans and the Tunisians not advancing past the group stage of their five-year World Cup participation.

3.2. Kits and crest

In the past, when the Tunisia national team of football, six companies supplied uniforms for Tunisian nationals. Tunisian national team starting in the year 1970, when well-known German company Adidas began adopting their Tunisian nation's team uniforms over the course of 24 years. It also offered the team with his debut at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, with the first collection of red jerseys and white socks, with the white Adidas posters. The second kit it's white and has the red Adidas labels.

In 1994 in 1994, it was 1994 when the Italian company Lotto added to the Tunisian team's sports uniforms up to 1998, which was Tunisia's second appearance at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. One set features white and decorated with curved red designs on the chest and shoulders The second set is decorated with red. With curved red designs on the chest, shoulders and the abdomen. The German Uhlsport company Uhlsport provided with the Tunisian team with uniforms for sports for two seasons that began with the 2000-2001 season which was a time when the company created white shirts with a line across the chest, which extends to the hands. The second set is red shirts with similar lines on the chest that extends to the hands, in white.

From 2002 until 2011 from 2002 to 2011, the German company Puma began providing Tunisian national football team's kits following the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The company provided six designs of the Tunisian national team's kit each of which is identical in the words of the logo and Puma's branding, and the primary kit is white, with Puma red markings. The second kit is red with the white Puma markings. In 2012 Tunisian Football Federation signed a contract with the company. Tunisian Football Federation entered into an agreement to the Swiss firm Burrda Sport for a period of four years from 2012 to 2016. The company supplied teams of the Tunisian national team teams in the 2013 and 2012 as well as the 2015 African Nations Cups. In 2016 the German Uhlsport company Uhlsport returned to provide Tunisian football with kits. Tunisian nation with kits for sports with the agreement having an expiration date of three years and, in fact, Uhlsport presented the Tunisian national team's uniform during the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but it did not meet expectations.

In the year 2019, in 2019, the Italian company Kappa started manufacturing products for Tunisian national football team's kit. The third kit was called the most beautiful kit to date for the Tunisian national team. It's black and features gray trims that resemble an eagle. This is the name to this Tunisian nation's team "Eagles of Carthage".

3.3. Kit manufacturer

Period Kit supplier Ref
1956–1970 Local equipment  
1970–1994  Adidas  
1994–1995  Guidas  
1995–1998  Kappa  
1998–2000  Lotto  
2000–2002  Uhlsport  
2002–2010  Puma  
2010–2016  Burrda Sport  
2016–2018  Uhlsport  
2018–  Kappa
 

4. Rivalries

Tunisia's main football rivals are its neighbours Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt, with which it shares close cultural and political relations.

4.1. Algeria

Tunisia played to date 45 matches against Algeria.

The first game was played on the 1st of June 1957. It was an informal match with the FLN football team. This was during the time that Algeria was an official French colony. At this time that matches became the most frequent. In reality the teams met six times between June 1957 between May 1958 and June 1957, with eight wins to the Algerians.

Following the declaration of independence for Algeria The first match that was officially played was played on December 15th, 1963 in an international match played held at Stade Chedly Zouiten in Tunisia. The teams also played three times during the qualifying stage for the World Cup in 1970, 1978 and 1986. The overall record is favoring the Algerians with 16 wins, 14 draws and 14 losses. The last loss suffered by Algeria against the Tunisians dates from the 20th of January, 2017, during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations which was hosted by Gabon. Prior to this game both teams had been in a match at the African Cup of Nations finals in 2013 that was heavily dominated by Tunisians. Today they Algerians lead the head-to head record and the international stage, however in official matches, Tunisia proves to be more dominant over Algeria. The most recent Algerian win against Tunisia in a game that was played in official competition was in 1988, in which the Algerians prevailed by 1-1 during the 1998 Afcon qualifying tournament. Since the time, Tunisia either won or draw against its neighbors in official matches.

4.2. Egypt

The clash between Egyptian as well as the Tunisian team is one of Africa's most thrilling and exciting matches throughout their lengthy time in the continent. Both teams have played 39 times, both in friendly and official matches. Tunisian as well as Egyptian teams have played 25 official matches as well as fourteen friendly games. Overall, the record is favoring the Tunisians because they had 16 wins and Egypt had 12 wins and finished 11 matches with a draw. Egypt has had more success on the continent of Africa as compared to Tunisia.

It was reported that the Eagles score 42 goals against the Pharaohs goal, whereas Egypt scored just 35 against Tunisia. The most goal-scoring match occurred on the 11th December 1977 in an 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) following the huge victory for the Tunisians 4-1 that led to their qualifying for qualifying for the World Cup.

Tunisia have played Egypt Egyptian team seven times during qualification for the World Cup or the African Nations Cup. Three World Cup qualifications were in 1974, 1978 , and 1998, where Tunisia was able to qualify in the previous two tournaments against Egypt. Four qualifiers to the African Nations Cup were in 1978 (Tunisia was victorious 3-1 after drawing 2-2) in 1984 (0-0 draw in Tunis and the Pharaohs took victory in Cairo with a score of 1-0) and 1992 (the teams played twice to draw 2-2) and in 2015 (Tunisia was victorious the game 1-0 and 2-1) as well as the 2019 qualifying tournament five times in a row, in which Tunisia won the opening game with a 1-0 win with Rades but lost in the following match in Alexandria 3-4.

The two teams faced off twice during the African Nations Cup finals in 2000 in Nigeria in which Tunisia defeated Nigeria 1-0. The same happened in the subsequent version in Mali in 2002, Egypt came out on top with the same outcome. Hossam Hassan is the highest of Egyptian players to be involved in the matches of the Pharaohs against the Eagles of Carthage with 12 games. Likewise, Wahbi Khazri has the highest number of Tunisian players who took part in their games against Egypt by three games.

Each of Egypt and Tunisia have a unreliable record at their participation in the FIFA World Cup, with both teams unable to get past the group stage, despite Tunisia being able to qualify to participate in this year's World Cup five times, while Egypt did not qualify for the World Cup three times.

4.3. Morocco

Tunisians along with Moroccans both have been playing 50 matches since they gained independence from France in 1956.

The first game, which was played in 1962, for World Cup qualification, took the 30th of October, 1960, in Casablanca. The majority of matches took place during FIFA World Cup qualification as they played in qualifying matches in 1962, 1970, 1998 1990, 1994, and 2006. They also played four times at their participation in the African Cup of Nations. Two of these ended in the draw in 1998 and 2000, and the remaining two games ended in the victory from the Tunisian team in 2004 and 2012. Africa Cup of Nations.

Their most significant match was the 2004 African Cup of Nations Final at Stade seven November Tunisia where Tunisia won their first African title. Tunisians were the first to win an African title. Overall, the results are favorable for Tunisia's Moroccans having won 13 times 29 draws and 9 losses. Tunisia has been able to win the most official matches in major tournaments. The last game between the Maghrebian teams dates back to the 28th of March in an informal match that was which was won with Morocco in Marrakech which led to the demotion of Tunisian head coach Henryk Kasperczak.

The two teams have a lot in common in the sense that both teams have only one African Cup and the two teams also have been selected for 5 World Cups, despite their many World Cup qualifying matches. They were both qualified for the same event in 1998, in France and also in 2018 and 2022 in Russia along with 2022 Qatar.

5. Results and fixtures

2021

3 September2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Tunisia  3–0  Equatorial Guinea  
7 September2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Zambia  0–2  Tunisia  
7 October2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Tunisia  3–0  Mauritania  
10 October2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Mauritania  0–0  Tunisia  
13 November2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Equatorial Guinea  1–0  Tunisia  
16 November2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Tunisia  3–1  Zambia  
30 November2021 Arab Cup Group Stage Tunisia  5–1  Mauritania  
3 December2021 Arab Cup Group Stage Syria  2–0  Tunisia  
6 December2021 Arab Cup Group Stage Tunisia  1–0  United   
10 December2021 Arab Cup QF Tunisia  2–1  Oman  
15 December2021 Arab Cup SF Tunisia  1–0  Egypt  
18 December2021 Arab Cup Final Tunisia  0–2 (a.e.t.)  Algeria  

 

2022

12 January2021 AFCON Tunisia  0–1  Mali  
16 January2021 AFCON Tunisia  4–0  Mauritania  
20 January2021 AFCON Gambia  1–0  Tunisia  
23 January2021 AFCON R16 Nigeria  0–1  Tunisia  
29 January2021 AFCON QF Burkina Faso  1–0  Tunisia  
25 March2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Mali  0–1  Tunisia  
29 March2022 FIFA World Cup qualification Tunisia  0–0
(1–0 agg.)
 Mali  
2 June2023 AFCON qualification Tunisia  4–0  Equatorial Guinea  
5 June2023 AFCON qualification Botswana  0–0  Tunisia  
10 June2022 Kirin Cup Soccer Chile  0–2  Tunisia  
14 June2022 Kirin Cup Soccer Japan  0–3  Tunisia  
September2023 AFCON qualification Tunisia  v  Libya  
September2023 AFCON qualification Libya  v  Tunisia  
22 November2022 FIFA World Cup Denmark  v  Tunisia  
26 November2022 FIFA World Cup Tunisia  v  Australia  
30 November2022 FIFA World Cup Tunisia  v  France  

2023

March2023 AFCON qualification Equatorial Guinea  v  Tunisia  
March2023 AFCON qualification Tunisia  v  Botswana  

6. Current staff

Position Name
Head Coach  Jalel Kadri
Assistant Coach  Ali Boumnijel
 Selim Benachour
Goalkeeping coach  Chedly Mabrouki
Sporting Director  Slim Ben Othman
Team Administrator  Hussein Jenayah
Physiotherapist  Akram Hbiri
 Majdi Turki
 Fethi Naoui
 Mohamed Gharbi
Fitness Coach  Aymen Jdidi
 Hichem Ghozia
 Mohamed Tounsi
Team Doctor  Souheil Chemli
Osteopath  Tarek Chamseddine
Nutritionist  Anis Yacoubi
Video Analyst  Walid Ben Tamansourt
Team Manager  Mohamed Gharbi
Media Officer  Kais Reguez
 Jouda Khenissi
Security Officer  Mohamed Dellagi
 Mahmoud Trabelsi
 

7. Players

The following players were called up for the 2022 Kirin Cup Soccer fixtures against Chile and Japan respectively on 10 and 14 June 2022.

Information correct as of 14 June 2022, after the match against Japan.

 

7.1. Current Squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 GK Mohamed Sedki Debchi 28 October 1999 (age 22) 0 0  Espérance de Tunis
16 GK Aymen Dahmen 28 January 1997 (age 25) 3 0  CS Sfaxien
22 GK Bechir Ben Saïd 29 November 1994 (age 27) 9 0  US Monastir

2 DF Bilel Ifa 9 March 1990 (age 32) 35 0  Abha
3 DF Montassar Talbi 26 May 1998 (age 24) 20 0  Rubin Kazan
4 DF Ali Abdi 20 December 1993 (age 28) 9 1  Caen
5 DF Adam Ben Lamin 2 June 2001 (age 21) 1 0  Jönköping
6 DF Nader Ghandri 18 February 1995 (age 27) 5 0  Club Africain
12 DF Ali Maâloul 1 January 1990 (age 32) 81 2  Al Ahly
20 DF Mohamed Dräger 25 June 1996 (age 26) 32 3  Luzern
21 DF Rami Kaib 8 May 1997 (age 25) 2 0  Heerenveen
24 DF Alaa Ghram 24 July 2001 (age 20) 0 0  CS Sfaxien

8 MF Mootez Zaddem 5 January 2001 (age 21) 2 0  Étoile du Sahel
10 MF Hannibal Mejbri 21 January 2003 (age 19) 16 0  Manchester United
13 MF Ferjani Sassi 18 March 1992 (age 30) 76 6  Al-Duhail
14 MF Aïssa Laïdouni 13 December 1996 (age 25) 22 1  Ferencváros
15 MF Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane 6 September 1999 (age 22) 22 1  Espérance de Tunis
18 MF Firas Ben Larbi 27 May 1996 (age 26) 10 2  Ajman
25 MF Anis Ben Slimane 16 March 2001 (age 21) 23 4  Brøndby

7 FW Youssef Msakni (captain) 28 October 1990 (age 31) 85 17  Al-Arabi
11 FW Taha Yassine Khenissi 6 January 1992 (age 30) 46 8  Kuwait SC
17 FW Issam Jebali 27 May 1996 (age 26) 9 3  OB
19 FW Seifeddine Jaziri 12 February 1993 (age 29) 28 10  Zamalek
23 FW Naïm Sliti 27 July 1992 (age 29) 67 13  Al-Ettifaq

8. Player records

As of 14 June 2022
Players in bold are still active with Tunisia.

8.1. Most appearances

Rank Player Caps Goals Pos Career
1 Radhi Jaïdi 105 7 DF 1996–2009  
2 Chokri El Ouaer 97 0 GK 1990–2002
3 Khaled Badra 96 10 DF 1995–2006
4 Kaies Ghodhbane 95 6 MF 1995–2006
5 Khaled Ben Yahia[a] 95 5 DF 1979–1993
6 Riadh Bouazizi 92 3 MF 1995–2006
7 Tarak Dhiab[a] 89 12 FW 1974–1990
8 Sadok Sassi[a] 87 0 GK 1963–1978
9 Mohamed Ali Mahjoubi   86 17 MF 1985–1995
10 Sirajeddine Chihi 86 4 MF 1991–2001
 

8.2. Top goalscorers

Rank Player Goals Caps Ratio Career
1 Issam Jemâa 36 84 0.43 2005–2014
2 Wahbi Khazri 24 69 0.35 2013–present
3 Francileudo Santos 21 41 0.51 2004–2008
4 Adel Sellimi 20 80 0.25 1990–2002
5 Faouzi Rouissi 18 42 0.43 1989–2001
6 Mohamed Ali Mahjoubi 17 86 0.2 1985–1995
7 Mohamed Salah Jedidi   15 32 0.47 1962–1965
8 Youssef Msakni 15 83 0.19 2010–present  
9 Zied Jaziri 14 63 0.22 1999–2007
10 Hassen Gabsi 14 50 0.28 1997–2002
 

9. Competitive record

Overview
Event 1st Place 2nd Place 3rd Place
Africa Cup of Nations 1 2 1
African Nations Championship 1 0 0
FIFA Arab Cup 1 1 0
Total 3 3

1

 

9.1. FIFA World Cup

Tunisia have appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on five occasions, the first being at the 1978 FIFA World Cup where they finished in ninth position. Between 1998 and 2006 they had a streak of three World Cup qualifications. They have made their fifth appearance at the finals in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[225] However, Tunisia has never been able to progress from the group stage in all occasions.

FIFA World Cup record   FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA Ref.
 1930 Part of  France Part of  France  
 1934  
 1938  
 1950  
 1954  
 1958 Did not enter Did not enter  
 1962 Did not qualify 3 1 1 1 4 4  
 1966 Withdrew Withdrew  
 1970 Did not qualify 5 1 4 0 4 3  
 1974 4 1 1 2 5 5  
 1978 Group stage 9th 3 1 1 1 3 2 Squad 10 4 4 2 15 9  
 1982 Did not qualify 2 1 0 1 2 2  
 1986 8 4 0 4 11 9  
 1990 10 4 1 5 10 11  
 1994 6 3 3 0 14 2  
 1998 Group stage 26th 3 0 1 2 1 4 Squad 8 7 1 0 15 2  
 2002   29th 3 0 1 2 1 5 Squad 10 8 2 0 28 5  
 2006 24th 3 0 1 2 3 6 Squad 10 6 3 1 25 9  
 2010 Did not qualify 12 7 3 2 18 7  
 2014 8 4 3 1 14 10  
 2018 Group stage 24th 3 1 0 2 5 8 Squad 8 6 2 0 15 6  
 2022 Qualified 8 5 2 1 12 2
 2026 To be determined To be determined
Total Group stage 6/22 15 2 4 9 13 25 112 62 30 20 192 86

9.2. FIFA Confederations Cup

The Tunisia national football team represented Tunisia at the FIFA Confederations Cup on one occasion, a sole appearance in 2005. Tunisia qualified for the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup as the CAF representative after winning 2004 Africa Cup of Nations.

FIFA Confederations Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Ref
 1992 Did not qualify
 1995
 1997
 1999
 2001
 2003
 2005 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 3 5 Squad  
 2009 Did not qualify
 2013
 2017  
Total Group stage 1/10 3 1 0 2 3 5
 

9.3. Africa Cup of Nations

Tunisia participated in the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 1962. In that year the country came in third by defeating Uganda in the third place match 3–0. That tournament, however, only four countries took part. In 1965 Tunisia was allowed to act as host country and made it to the final, where they lost 2–3 against Ghana.

Tunisia did not reach the final again until 1996, and again finished as runners-up, this time losing 0–2 to hosts South Africa. Tunisia's biggest success in the tournament came 8 years later, when as hosts they reached the final for the third time and were victorious, defeating Morocco 2–1. Francileudo Santos and Ziad Jaziri scored the goals for Tunisia.

Africa Cup of Nations record   Africa Cup of Nations qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad Pld W D L GF GA Ref
 1957 Not affiliated to CAF Not affiliated to CAF  
 1959  
 1962 Third place 3rd 2 1 0 1 5 4 Squad 4 3 0 1 7 2  
 1963 Group stage 5th 2 0 1 1 3 5 Squad 2 1 0 1 6 5  
 1965 Runners-up 2nd 3 1 1 1 6 3 Squad Qualified as hosts  
 1968   Did not qualify 4 1 1 2 5 5  
 1970 Did not enter Did not enter  
 1972  
 1974  
 1976 Did not qualify 6 3 1 2 8 7  
 1978 Fourth place 4th 5 1 3 1 5 4 Squad 4 2 1 1 10 7  
 1980 Withdrew Banned  
 1982 Group stage 7th 3 0 1 2 1 4 Squad 2 1 1 0 1 0  
 1984 Did not qualify 4 2 1 1 6 1  
 1986 2 1 0 1 1 2  
 1988 2 0 1 1 1 2  
 1990 2 0 0 2 0 4  
 1992 6 3 3 0 10 5  
 1994 Group stage 9th 2 0 1 1 1 3 Squad Qualified as hosts  
 1996 Runners-up 2nd 6 2 2 2 10 9 Squad 8 3 4 1 7 2  
 1998 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 6 5 Squad 3 2 0 1 3 1  
 2000 Fourth place 4th 6 2 2 2 6 9 Squad 6 5 0 1 13 3  
 2002 Group stage 11th 3 0 2 1 0 1 Squad 6 2 2 2 9 7  
 2004 Champions 1st 6 4 2 0 10 4 Squad Qualified as hosts  
 2006 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 1 1 7 5 Squad 10 6 3 1 25 9  
 2008 Quarter-finals 5th 4 1 2 1 7 6 Squad 6 4 1 1 12 3  
 2010 Group stage 12th 3 0 3 0 3 3 Squad 12 7 3 2 18 7  
 2012 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 0 2 5 5 Squad 8 4 2 2 14 6  
 2013 Group stage 12th 3 1 1 1 2 4 Squad 2 0 2 0 2 2  
 2015 Quarter-finals 7th 4 1 2 1 5 5 Squad 6 4 2 0 6 2  
 2017 Quarter-finals 8th 4 2 0 2 6 7 Squad 6 4 1 1 16 3  
 2019 Fourth place 4th 7 1 4 2 6 5 Squad 6 4 1 1 16 3  
 2021 Quarter-finals 8th 5 2 0 3 5 3 Squad 6 5 1 0 14 5
 2023 To be determined 1 1 0 0 4 0
 2025 To be determined
Total 1 Title 20/33 80 25 29 26 99 94 122 68 30 24 204 91

9.4. Summer Olympics

Summer Olympics record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Ref
 1896 –  1952 Part of  France
 1956 Did not enter
 1960 Group stage 15th 3 0 0 3 3 11  
 1964 Did not qualify
 1968
 1972
 1976
 1980
 1984
 1988 Group stage 13th 3 0 2 1 3 6  
Since  1992 See Tunisia national under-23 football team
Total Group stage 2/15 12 1 4 7 11 27
 

9.5. African Nations Championship

Tunisia has taken part at two times in the African Nations Championship. For the edition of 2009, Tunisia is part of the Olympic team under the direction under Mondher Kbaier. Tunisia is eliminated in the qualifying phase. The year 2011, under guidance by Sami Trabelsi, Tunisia qualified for the finals , and then won the title by winning against Angola at the end of final. In 2014, under the supervision of Nabil Maaloul the Tunisian team was eliminated during the qualifying stage.

The 2016 tournament under the direction of Henryk Kasperczak Tunisia made it to the finals, but It was Hatem Missaoui who led the team in Rwanda. Tunisia was defeated in quarterfinals, courtesy of Mali. It is announced by the Tunisian Football Federation announces that Tunisia will not participate in the 2018 edition.

African Nations Championship
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad
 2009 Did not qualify
 2011 Champions 1st 6 4 2 0 11 3 Squad
 2014 Did not qualify
 2016 Quarter–finals 8th 4 1 2 1 9 5 Squad
 2018 Did not compete
 2020 Withdrew after qualifying
 2022    To be determined
Total Champions 1/2 10 5 4 1 20 8

9.6. FIFA Arab Cup

In 1963, Tunisia won the inaugural tournament of the Arab Nations Cup. The year was the first time one group stage was played. In the group stage five countries competed. Tunisia was victorious in the four matches and ended up at the top. Following that, it was to take part at this tournament in 1988. In 1988, it failed to play a single match, and was left stranded at an early stage.

In 2021 in 2021, in 2021, the Tunisian national team took part in 2021's FIFA Arab Cup, which is the first tournament under FIFA to include 16 nations in finals. The Tunisian team made it to the final after beating Mauritania and Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Egypt but fell in at the end to Algeria.

FIFA Arab Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Squad Ref
 1963 Champions 1st 4 4 0 0 11 1 Squad  
 1964 Did not enter
 1966
 1985
 1988 Group stage 7th 4 0 3 1 3 4 Squad  
 1992 Did not enter
 1998
 2002
 2012
 2021    Runners-up 2nd 6 4 0 2 9 6 Squad  
Total 1 Title 3/10 14 8 3 3 23 11
 

9.7. Mediterranean Games

It is believed that the Tunisian national team was part of the tournament for football in the Mediterranean Games 12 times. The first time they participated of the tournament was the year 1963 held in Naples, Italy. Tunisia was pleased with its sixth position after having been removed from the group stage.

The Tunisian team made it to the final twicebefore, one in the 1971 edition held in Izmir, Turkey and won the silver medal, after being defeated in the final Yugoslavia 1-1. The second time in 2001 at Tunis, Tunisia. The Tunisian team also took home the gold medal after winning against Italy 1-1. They also defeated Italy 1-0. Tunisian team also took home the bronze medal twicebefore, firstly in 1975 held in Algiers, Algeria and the second time in 2013, at Mersin, Turkey.

Mediterranean Games record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Ref
 1951    Part of  France
 1955 Did not enter
 1959
 1963 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 3 4  
 1967 Group stage 5th 3 1 1 1 4 3  
 1971 Silver medal 2nd 4 2 1 1 3 2  
 1975 Bronze medal 3rd 5 1 3 1 5 5  
 1979 Group stage 7th 3 0 1 2 2 4  
 1983 Group stage 7th 2 1 0 1 4 5  
 1987 Did not enter
 1991 Group stage 7th 2 1 0 1 1 5  
 1993 Group stage 7th 3 1 0 2 2 5  
 1997 Did not enter
 2001 Gold medal 1st 4 3 0 1 7 1  
 2005 Quarter-finals 7th 3 0 3 0 4 4  
 2009 Group stage 7th 4 2 1 1 6 5  
 2013 Bronze medal 3rd 5 3 1 1 10 5  
 2018 Did not enter
 2022
Total 1 Title 1/12 39 15 10 14 49 46
 

9.8. All-Africa Games

All-Africa Games record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Ref
 1965 Did not qualify
 1973 Withdrew
 1978 Withdrew after qualifying
 1987 Group stage 8 4 0 0 4 1 8  
 1991 Silver medal 2 5 3 1 1 7 2  
 1995 Did not qualify
 1999 Withdrew
 2003 Did not enter
 2007 Bronze medal 3 5 2 2 1 4 3  
 2011 Did not enter
 2015 Withdrew
 2019 Did not enter
 2023   To be determined
Total Runners-up 2/10 14 5 3 6 12 13
 

9.9. Pan Arab Games

Pan Arab Games record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Ref
 1953    Did not enter
 1957 Silver medal 2nd 5 3 0 2 14 13  
 1961 Did not enter
 1965
 1976
 1985 Group stage 5th 3 2 1 0 7 2  
 1997 Did not enter
 1999
 2007
 2011
Total Runners-up 2/10 8 5 1 2 21 15
 

9.10. Other records

Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Ref
 1962 Tripoli Fair Tournament Third place 3rd 3 1 0 2 6 9
 1963 Friendship Games Runners-up 2nd 6 4 1 0 4 9  
 1965 Tripoli Fair Tournament Champions 1st 3 2 1 0 4 2  
 1966 Tripoli Fair Tournament Fourth place 4th 3 0 1 2 0 3  
 1973 Palestine Cup of Nations Champions 1st 6 6 0 0 19 3  
 1974 Iran International Tournament Group stage 6th 2 0 1 1 0 2  
 1974 Kuneitra Cup Third place 3rd 7 4 0 3 10 9  
 1975 Palestine Cup of Nations Group stage 5th 2 1 1 0 4 1  
 1984–85 Friendship Games Third place 3rd 2 1 0 2 2 6  
 1988 Malta International Tournament Fourth place 4th 3 0 0 3 1 10  
 7th November Cup 1991 Champions 1st 2 2 0 0 11 3  
 7th November Cup 1993 Champions 1st 2 2 0 0 6 1  
 1994 Malta International Tournament Third place 3 3 0 2 1 2 5  
 7th November Cup 1995 Champions 1st 2 2 0 0 4 1  
 1997 LG Cup Champions 1st 2 2 0 0 5 1  
 2003 Tunis Four Nations Tournament Champions 1st 2 1 1 0 3 2  
 2006 LG Cup Runners-up 2nd 2 1 1 0 3 0  
 2011 Catalonia International Trophy Champions 1st 1 0 1 0 0 0  
 2015 Kirin Challenge Cup Runners-up 2nd 1 0 0 1 0 2  
 2016 Catalonia International Trophy Champions 1st 1 0 1 0 3 3  
 2022 Kirin Cup Soccer Champions 1st 2 2 0 0 5 0  
Total 10 Titles 1st 60 33 12 17 96 89
 

10. Head-to-head record

The list shown below shows the Tunisia national football team all−time international record against opposing nations.

As of 14 June 2022 after match against  Japan.


Against
Pld W D L GF GA GD Confederation
 Algeria 47 14 15 18 39 49 −10 CAF
 Angola 7 3 4 0 15 5 10 CAF
 Argentina 1 0 0 1 1 2 −1 CONMEBOL
 Australia 2 1 0 1 2 3 −1 AFC
 Austria 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 UEFA
 Bahrain 2 1 0 1 3 1 2 AFC
 Belarus 1 1 0 0 3 0 3 UEFA
 Belgium 4 1 1 2 5 8 −3 UEFA
 Benin 9 6 3 0 24 6 18 CAF
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 UEFA
 Botswana 7 3 2 2 9 5 4 CAF
 Brazil 1 0 0 1 1 4 −3 CONMEBOL
 Bulgaria 2 1 1 0 6 3 3 UEFA
 Burkina Faso 7 1 3 3 7 8 −1 CAF
 Burundi 3 3 0 0 5 2 3 CAF
 Cameroon 18 2 7 9 18 29 −11 CAF
 Canada 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 CONCACAF
 Cape Verde 3 2    1 0 5 2 3 CAF
 Central African Republic 1 1 0 0 3 0 3 CAF
 Chad 4 3 1 0 10 2 8 CAF
 Chile 2 1 0 1 4 3 1 CONMEBOL
 China PR 4 1 2 1 3 3 0 AFC
 Chinese Taipei 1 1 0 0 8 1 7 AFC
 Colombia 2 0 1 1 1 2 −1 CONMEBOL
 Congo 9 6 2 1 17 6 11 CAF
 Costa Rica 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 CONCACAF
 Croatia 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 UEFA
 Denmark 2 0 0 2 2 5 −3 UEFA
 Djibouti 2 2 0 0 11 1 10 CAF
 DR Congo[a] 14 7 4 3 25 13 12 CAF
 East Germany 5 1 0 4 1 11 −10 UEFA
 Egypt 40 17 10 13 44 37 7 CAF
 England 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 UEFA
 Equatorial Guinea 8 5 1 2 15 6 9 CAF
 Ethiopia 8 4 2 2 17 11 6 CAF
 Finland 3 0 1 2 2 6 −4 UEFA
 France 4 0 2 2 3 7 −4 UEFA
 Gabon 11 4 6 1 21 12 9 CAF
 Gambia 2 0 0 2 1 3 −2 CAF
 Georgia 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2 UEFA
 Germany[b] 3 0 2 1 1 4 −3 UEFA
 Ghana 18    4 5 9 20 27 −7 CAF
 Guinea 20 9 4 7 31 19 12 CAF
 Guinea-Bissau 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 CAF
 Hungary 1 0 0 1 1 10 −9 UEFA
 Iceland 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 UEFA
 India 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 AFC
 Iran 2 1 1 0 3 2 1 AFC
 Iraq 11 7 3 1 19 10 9 AFC
 Republic of Ireland 1 0 0 1 0 4 −4 UEFA
 Italy 1 0 0 1 0 4 −4 UEFA
 Ivory Coast 19 6 6 7 27 29 −2 CAF
 Japan 5 1 0 4 3 6 −3 AFC
 Jordan 3 2 1 0 12 3 9 AFC
 Kenya 7 5 1 1 10 3 7 CAF
 Kuwait 4 3 0 1 8 4 4 AFC
 Latvia 1 1 0 0 3 0 3 UEFA
 Lebanon 5 3 1 1 9 5 4 AFC
 Liberia 10 5 2 3 17 9 8 CAF
 Libya 27 17 3 7 50 33 17 CAF
 Madagascar 5 4 0 1 8 4 4 CAF
 Malawi 7 2 3 2 16 8 8 CAF
 Mali 14 7 2 5 14 10 4 CAF
 Malta 12 4 4 4 13 9 4 UEFA
 Mauritania 15 11 4 0 29 5 24 CAF
 Mauritius 2 1 1 0 2 0 2 CAF
 Mexico 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 CONCACAF
 Morocco 50 9 28 13 46 53 −7 CAF
 Mozambique 3 1 1 1 3 2 1 CAF
 Namibia 3 3 0 0 8 1 7 CAF
 Netherlands 3 0 2 1 3 7 −4 UEFA
 Niger 4 4 0 0 9 4 5 CAF
 Nigeria 20 7 7 6 25 19 5 CAF
 Norway 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2 UEFA
 Oman 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 AFC
 Palestine 2 1 1 0 7 3 4 AFC
 Panama 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 CONCACAF
 Peru 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 CONMEBOL
 Poland 4 1 0 3 2 9 −7 UEFA
 Portugal 2 0 2 0 3 3 0 UEFA
 Qatar 3 1 0 2 5 3 2 AFC
 Romania 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 UEFA
 Russia 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 UEFA
 Rwanda 6 6 0 0 18 3 15 CAF
 Saudi Arabia 7 3 2 2 7 6 1 AFC
 Senegal 21 9 7 5 22 13 9 CAF
 Serbia[c] 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 UEFA
 Seychelles 4 4 0 0 14 0 14 CAF
 Sierra Leone 7 3 3 1 10 6 4 CAF
 Slovenia 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 UEFA
 Somalia 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 CAF
 South Africa 6 3 1 2 9 7 2 CAF
 South Korea 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 AFC
 Soviet Union 1 0 0 1 0 3 −3 UEFA
 Spain 2 0 0 2 1 4 −3 UEFA
 Sudan 11 8 0 3 28 11 17 CAF
 Sweden 4 1 1 2 2 3 −1 UEFA
  Switzerland 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 UEFA
 Eswatini 2 2 0 0 6 0 6 CAF
 Syria 11 5 1 5 16 14 2 AFC
 Togo 10 7 3 0 19 4 15 CAF
 Turkey 6 0 5 1 4 7 −3 UEFA
 Uganda 5 5 0 0 16 1 15 CAF
 Ukraine 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 UEFA
 United Arab Emirates 5 5 0 0 10 1 9 AFC
 United States 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 CONCACAF
 Uruguay 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 CONMEBOL
 Wales 1 1 0 0 4 0 4 UEFA
 Yugoslavia 5 1 0 4 3 21 −18 UEFA
 Zambia 14 9 2 3 24 13 11 CAF
 Zimbabwe 2 1 1 0 5 3 2 CAF
Total 691 298 193 210 970 698 272
  1. ^ Includes matches against  Zaire
  2. ^ Includes matches against  West Germany.
  3. ^ Includes matches against  Serbia and Montenegro

 

11. FIFA rankings

The Tunisian national team has been consistently one of the most successful African teams, mainly due to its impressive performances in the Africa Cup of Nations (3rd place in 1962 2nd place in the 1995 and 1996 editions as well as the title of champion at the time of 2004's edition).

However, after the positive outcomes in 2017 and 2018 and the 2017 and 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (eight matches that saw 6 wins, 2 draws) and friendly matches (five matches two wins, two draws, and 1 loss) This means that the Tunisian national team was able to reach the 14th position worldwide between May and April of 2018. The team is also regarded as to be the top African nation in the FIFA World Ranking between January until December 2018.

11.1. Rankings by year

Tunisia's FIFA world rankings
Rank Year Statistics Best Worst
Games Wins Draws Loses Rank Move Rank Move
32 1993 10 6 3 1 31  7 (August) 36  3 (September)
30 1994 10 3 5 2 27  4 (September) 33  3 (October)
22 1995 14 7 3 4 21  6 (February) 27  4 (August)
23 1996 14 7 2 5 21  6 (February) 31  9 (June)
23 1997 14 9 2 3 20  7 (August) 29  4 (June)
21 1998 17 7 4 6 19  6 (November) 26  4 (July)
31 1999 10 7 1 2 26  4 (November) 33  7 (June)
26 2000 17 8 7 2 25  3 (June) 28  1 (September)
28 2001 12 8 2 2 22  7 (July) 32  5 (April)
41 2002 14 0 8 6 28  0 (June) 41  5 (July)
45 2003 9 5 3 1 40  3 (April) 46  3 (October)
35 2004 16 8 4 4 31  14 (February) 45  2 (April)
28 2005 12 8 2 2 23  8 (September) 40  4 (October)
32 2006 16 7 4 5 21  5 (February) 32  10 (July)
47 2007 9 5 3 1 32  5 (July) 47  13 (February)
46 2008 16 7 5 4 44  3 (April) 56  7 (February)
53 2009 10 4 4 2 45  2 (July) 54  8 (February)
45 2010 11 3 5 3 44  11 (October) 65  10 (July)
59 2011 8 4 2 2 44  3 (March) 61  15 (April)
45 2012 16 8 4 4 41  10 (June) 59  4 (October)
48 2013 15 4 7 4 41  11 (February) 53  8 (June)
22 2014 9 5 3 1 22  11 (September) 49  5 (April)
40 2015 15 5 5 5 22  2 (June) 41  5 (April)
35 2016 11 6 4 1 34  4 (October) 48  8 (February)
27 2017 13 6 2 5 27  7 (July) 42  5 (April)
24 2018 8 3 2 3 14  9 (April) 24  7 (June)
27 2019 17 8 5 4 25  3 (June) 28  4 (July)
26 2020 4 2 2 0 26  1 (September) 27  0 (December)
30 2021 17 12 1 4 25  3 (December) 30  4 (November)
 

12. Honours

This is a list of honours for the senior Tunisia national team
 

12.1. Awards

African National Team of the Year

  •  First place : 1995, 1999, 2004, 2005
  •  Second place : 1996, 1997

12.2. Official competitions

 Africa Cup of Nations

  •  Champions: 2004
  •  Runner-up: 1965, 1996
  •  Third-place: 1962

African Nations Championship

  •  Champions: 2011

FIFA Arab Cup

  •  Champions: 1963
  •  Runner-up: 2021

Mediterranean Games

  •  Gold Medal: 2001
  •  Silver Medal: 1971
  •  Bronze Medal: 1975, 2013

African Games

  •  Silver Medal: 1991
  •  Bronze Medal: 2007

Pan Arab Games

  •  Silver Medal: 1957

12.3. Friendly competitions

7th November Cup

  •  Champions: 1991, 1993, 1995

Catalonia International Trophy

  •  Champions: 2011, 2016

Kirin Cup Soccer

  •  Champions: 2022

Palestine Cup of Nations

  •  Champions: 1973

LG Cup

  •  Champions: 1997
  •  Runner-up: 2006

Kirin Challenge Cup

  •  Runner-up: 2015

Kuneitra Cup

  •  Third-place: 1974

12.4. Minor tournaments

Tripoli Fair Tournament

  •  Champions: 1965
  •  Third-place: 1962

Tunis Four Nations Tournament

  •  Champions: 2003

Friendship Games

  •  Runner-up: 1963
  •  Third-place: 1984–85

Malta International Tournament

  •  Third-place: 1994