Tunisia
- Issam Jemaa – Goals: 36
- Wahbi Khazri – Goals: 24
- Francileudo Santos – Goals: 21
- Adel Sellimi – Goals: 20
- Faouzi Rouissi – Goals: 18
Tarak Dhiab, an attacking midfielder, was on Tunisia’s first ever FIFA World Cup squad. A great passer, Dhiab was voted the Tunisian soccer player of the 20th century. He was the African Footballer of the Year in 1977 and made over 100 appearances for his country.
Tunisia’s best goalie of all time is Sadok Sassi, nicknamed Attouga. He was the first choice Tunisian goalie for over a decade and won five league titles with Club Africain. He would be Tunisia’s all time caps leader if not for discrepancies between FIFA and Tunisia records.
Wahbi Khazri grew up in France but chose to represent Tunisia and has become one of their best-ever players. The forward is second on Tunisia’s all time goalscorers list, and he scored twice at the 2018 World Cup. Currently captain of Tunisia, Khazri has represented his country at five AFCON tournaments.
Francileudo Santos scored eight minutes into his Tunisia debut, and the rest is history. The Brazilian-born forward was a joint-top scorer, since Tunisia won the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations. He scored an impressive 22 goals in just 41 appearances for the Eagles of Carthage.
Temime Lahzami was the captain of the first Tunisian World Cup squad and a talented winger. Lahzami once played for Marseille in France and scored 12 goals in 69 appearances with Tunisia.
Tunisia’s first World Cup, in 1978, remains their best performance to this day. It was the only time the Eagles of Carthage weren’t defeated twice in the same tournament. In the opener, Tunisia fell behind to Mexico at halftime but stormed back with three unanswered goals.
Ali Kaabi scored Tunisia’s first ever World Cup goal and Nejob Ghommidh scored the winner. The win was the first by an African team at a FIFA World Cup. The Eagles of Carthage fell to Poland in their next match but scored an impressive draw with Germany in the final match.
Tunisia finished third in their group but had a positive goal difference. Tunisian president Habib Bourguiba told the players that they had achieved the work of “50 ambassadors” upon returning home.
While Tunisia has never reached the knockout stage in five tries at the World Cup, 2002 stands out as being their worst performance. They registered a -4 goal differential in three matches and Raouf Bouzaiene scored Tunisia’s only goal in a 1-1 draw vs. Belgium. Tunisia’s other matches finished in 2-0 defeats to both Russia and Japan.
Team Information
Tunisia National Football Team History
As soon as Tunisia gained independence from France in 1956 they set up a football federation to create a national team. The Tunisia national football team played its first official match in 1957 and defeated Libya in the Pan Arab Games.
Africa Cup of Nations: First Major Tournament
Tunisia’s first major tournament was at the 1962 Africa Cup of Nations and they finished in third place. Three years later, they were runners up as they lost to Ghana in the final in extra time.
One of the best years in Tunisian soccer history, 1978 marked the first Tunisia FIFA World Cup appearance. Earlier that year, Tunisia, led by players like Tarak Dhiab, Nejib Ghommidh and Mokhtar Dhouib, were also semifinalists at the Africa Cup of Nations; still, the Eagles of Carthage didn’t make it out of the group stage at the World Cup.
First African Team to Win a World Cup Match
The Tunisia national football team became the first African team to win a match at the World Cup by defeating Mexico 3-1. A rough patch followed, however, as Tunisia only qualified for two tournaments between 1980 and 1992.
Former Ivory Coast coach Henryk Kasperczak was hired in 1994 and the national team started performing again. Tunisia national football team made the finals of the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations and qualified for their first World Cup in 20 years in 1998.
There, they failed to win a match and Kasperczak was promptly replaced. With a couple of coaching changes in between, Tunisia national football team managed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. They drew with Belgium but lost to both Russia and Japan in a group stage exit.
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Two years later, the Eagles of Carthage won their first ever major trophy at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations under Roger Lemerre. Francileudo Santos scored three group stage goals, since hosts Tunisia went 2-0-1 and topped Group A. A Jahwar Mnari goal knocked out 2002 World Cup quarter-finalists Senegal in the quarterfinals.
It took penalties to knock out Jay-Jay Okocha and Nigeria in the semifinals. Then, Tunisia beat Morocco 2-1 for a well deserved trophy. As a result, they participated in the 2005 Confederations Cup but were eliminated in the group stage.
Third World-Cup Qualification
The Tunisia national football team qualified for a third consecutive World Cup in 2006 but lost 1-0 to Ukraine in the final match for another group stage exit. Another dry spell followed, but a resurgent Tunisia rose all the way to 14th in the FIFA World Rankings in 2018.
That meant expectations were high ahead of the 2018 World Cup. In Russia, they defeated Panama but fell to both England and Belgium. The 2-1 win over Panama was their first World Cup win for 40 years.
They qualified for Qatar 2022, which is their sixth World Cup; Tunisia are in Group D with world champions Australia, France and Denmark.
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