Tunisian national soccer team / world championships

Tunisian Republic
الجمهورية التونسية
al-Jumhūriyya at-Tūnisiyya

World Cup record goalscorer:	Wahbi Khazri (2)
World Cup record players:	Riadh Bouazizi Kaies Ghodhbane (8 each)
Rank :	47
Balance sheet
15 World Cup games 2 wins 4 draws 9 losses 13:25 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Tunisia 3: 1 Mexico Rosario ( ARG ); June 2nd 1978
Biggest World Cup victory Tunisia 3-1 Mexico Rosario ( ARG ); June 2nd 1978
Biggest World Cup defeat Tunisia 2-5 Belgium Moscow ( RUS ); June 23, 2018
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	5 ( first : 1978 )
Best results	Preliminary round: 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of June 28, 2018 )

The article contains a detailed description of the Tunisian national soccer team at soccer world championships . Tunisia took part in a World Cup finals for the fifth time in 2018 and, as before, did not survive the preliminary round. In the all-time table of World Cup finalists, Tunisia now ranks 47th.

Overview

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	not participated				Not an independent state
1934	Italy	not participated				Not an independent state
1938	France	not participated				Not an independent state
1950	Brazil	not participated				Not an independent state
1954	Switzerland	not participated				Not an independent state
1958	Sweden	not participated				Not a FIFA member
1962	Chile	not qualified				In the qualification in the preliminary round in the play-off after drawing lots, Morocco failed, but they could not qualify either.
1966	England	withdrawn				All 15 African teams withdrew from the qualification as FIFA only allowed the teams from Africa, Asia and Oceania one place in the final round.
1970	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification in the 2nd round in the playoff after drawing lots to Morocco failed.
1974	Germany	not qualified				Failed in the qualification in the 2nd round at Ivory Coast , which could not qualify either.
1978	Argentina	Preliminary round	Mexico , Poland , Germany	13.	Abdelmajid Chetali	After a win against Mexico, a defeat against Poland and a draw against defending champions Germany, they were eliminated as third in the group.
1982	Spain	not qualified				In the qualification in the first round after penalties to Nigeria failed, but they could not qualify either.
1986	Mexico	not qualified				In the qualification in the finals of season A, Algeria failed.
1990	Italy	not qualified				In the qualification in the 3rd and final round, Cameroon failed.
1994	United States	not qualified				In the first round of qualification , Morocco failed again.
1998	France	Preliminary round	England , Colombia , Romania	26th	Henryk Kasperczak	After two defeats and a draw against group winners Romania, eliminated as bottom group.
2002	South Korea / Japan	Preliminary round	Russia , Belgium , Japan	29	Khemais Labidi / Ammar Souayah	After two defeats and a draw against Belgium, eliminated as bottom of the group.
2006	Germany	Preliminary round	Saudi Arabia , Spain , Ukraine	24.	Roger Lemerre	After a draw (against Saudi Arabia) and two defeats, eliminated as third in the group.
2010	South Africa	not qualified				In the third round of qualification , Nigeria failed again.
2014	Brazil	not qualified				In the qualification in the last round of Cameroon failed.
2018	Russia	Preliminary round	England Belgium Panama	24.	Nabil Maaloul	After defeats in the first two games, the team had no chance of reaching the round of 16 before the last game against Panama
2022	Qatar

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Not participated (no independent state or not recognized): 6 × (29%; 1930 to 1958)
• Withdrawn: 1 × (5%; 1966)
• Unqualified: 9 × (43%; 1962, 1970, 1974, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 2010 and 2014)
• Athletic qualification: 5 × (24% or 36% of the attempts)
  • Preliminary round: 5 × (24%; 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2018)

World Cup tournaments

1930 to 1954 and 1958

As a French colony, Tunisia could not participate in the first five tournaments. The Fédération Tunisienne de Football was founded in 1956 after independence, but did not join FIFA until 1960. Therefore, Tunisia could not take part in 1958 either.

1962 in Chile

Tunisia was allowed to participate in the qualification for the World Cup in Chile for the first time and on October 30, 1960, the first World Cup qualifying match for the Tunisians and Moroccans took place in Casablanca and Tunisia lost 2-1 to Morocco . Since the second leg in Tunis was won 2-1 14 days later, a third game had to take place. Since this ended 1-1 after extra time in Palermo , there was a drawing of lots , through which Morocco moved into the next round and Tunisia was eliminated. Morocco then reached the playoff game against Spain as the winner of the Africa zone and lost both games (0: 1 and 2: 3), so that no African representative could take part in the World Cup.

1966 in England

For the World Cup in the "motherland of football" , Tunisia should play against Algeria and Liberia in the qualifying round . But since the teams from Africa, Asia and Oceania were only allowed one place in the final round, all 15 African teams withdrew. South Korea withdrew from the Asian group, so that only North Korea and Australia played out the World Cup starting place, which North Korea finally won.

1970 in Mexico

For the first World Cup in Central America , Tunisia had to face Algeria in the first round. The first World Cup qualifier on November 17, 1968 in Algiers was won 2-1, so that Tunisia 0-0 in the second leg in Tunis was enough to reach the second round. In this Tunisia then failed again by drawing lots after the play-off to Morocco , which thus reached the next round and was the first African team to qualify for a World Cup final there after the Second World War . Previously, both home games were goalless and the playoff in Marseille ended 2-2 after extra time.

1974 in Germany

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Germany, Tunisia met the Egyptians trained by Dettmar Cramer in the first round . After a 2-1 draw in Cairo , Tunis won 2-0, which meant the second round against Ivory Coast , which took part in qualifying for the first time. In this, it was only 1-1 in the home game, while the second leg was lost 2-1. The Ivory Coast then failed in the third round to Morocco, which in turn missed the qualification in the fourth round.

1978 in Argentina

Four years later, the qualification was successful for the first time. In qualifying for the World Cup in Argentina , Tunisia once again had to face Morocco in the first round. Since both games ended 1: 1, the penalty shoot-out that had been introduced in the meantime had to decide, which Tunisia won 4: 2. In the second round the neighbor Algeria was the opponent and after a 2-0 home game a 1-1 in Algeria was enough to reach the third round. Here the team met Guinea and lost 1-0 in Conakry . A 3-1 win in the second leg made it into the fourth round. There the Tunisians prevailed against Egypt and Nigeria and were able to go to the World Cup in Argentina.

In Argentina, the Tunisians faced Mexico in their first World Cup game . After holding a 0-0 for 44 minutes, they fell behind with a hand penalty shortly before half-time. After the break, however, they were able to turn the game around and become the first African team to win a World Cup game, with Ali Kaabi scoring the first World Cup goal for Tunisia in the 55th minute. In the second game against the previous World Cup third party Poland , they lost 1-0 with a goal from previous World Cup top scorer Grzegorz Lato . In the last group game against defending champions Germany Tunisia would have needed a win to reach the second final round, while a draw was enough for the Germans, having won 6-0 against Mexico and parting with Poland goalless. With another goalless draw, the Germans then reached the second round, although only as second in the group, but as in 1974 they avoided Argentina and Brazil. Tunisia, on the other hand, said goodbye to the World Cup for 20 years.

1982 in Spain

For the World Cup in Spain , the number of starting places was increased and the Africans were granted another. In the qualification , the Tunisians had to play against Nigeria in the first round. After both won their home games, the penalty shoot-out had to decide. This went 4: 3 in favor of the Nigerians. This meant that qualification was over for Tunisia after just two games. Nigeria then failed in the last round to Algeria , which qualified for the first time for the World Cup and surprisingly defeated Germany there, but was eliminated after the non-aggression pact of Gijón .

1986 in Mexico

In qualifying for the second World Cup in Mexico , the Tunisians had to play against Benin in the first round and prevailed 2-0 and 4-0. In the second round against Guinea they lost 1-0 in Guinea, but reached the third round with a 2-0 home game. Again, Nigeria was the opponent. After a 0: 1 in the away game, a 2: 0 was enough to reach the last round, in which Algeria waited. With two defeats (1: 4 and 0: 3) participation in the World Cup was gambled away. At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Algeria was eliminated from the group bottom in the preliminary round.

1990 in Italy

The qualification for the second World Cup in Italy was again unsuccessful. Although Tunisia beat Guinea 5-0 and 0-3 in the first round and survived the second round against Zambia , Zaire and Morocco , both games were lost to Cameroon in the third and final round (0-2 and 0: 1). Cameroon became the first African team to advance to the quarter-finals at the World Cup finals and surprisingly defeated defending champions Argentina in the opening game.

1994 in the United States

The qualification for the World Cup in the USA , for which the Africans received another starting place, was also unsuccessful. Tunisia failed in a group with Morocco, Ethiopia and Benin. The leap into the second round was missed by a 0-0 win on the last match day in Morocco, which then qualified for the World Cup in the second round, but was eliminated from the group bottom in the preliminary round without a point.

1998 in France

The qualification for the second World Cup in France finally went better. The Africans were now entitled to five starting places. Tunisia survived the first round with two victories (3: 1 and 2: 0) against Rwanda and then prevailed in the second round against Egypt , Liberia and Namibia . The points were only shared in Egypt.

In France, Tunisia faced England in their first game and lost 2-0. They also lost against Colombia (0: 1), so that the end was already clear before the last group game against Romania . The 1: 1 therefore only had statistical value.

2002 in Japan and South Korea

In qualifying for the first World Cup in Asia , the Tunisians beat Mauritania 2-1 and 3-0 in the first round . In the second round, the Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo , the Republic of the Congo and Madagascar were the opponents. With five points ahead of Ivory Coast, Tunisia prevailed and went back to the World Cup.

In Japan, the Tunisians lost their first game against Russia 2-0. A 1-1 draw against Belgium followed, but they also lost 2-0 to co-hosts Japan . With that, Tunisia was eliminated from the bottom of the group.

2006 in Germany

Tunisian fans at the public viewing in the Munich Olympic Stadium

Andrij Shevchenko (Ukraine) scores 1-0 against Tunisia with a penalty

Tunisia was once again able to qualify for the World Cup , which was hosted by Germany for the second time. After a bye in the first round, the team had to face Morocco, Guinea , Kenya , Botswana and Malawi in the second round . The qualification was made perfect by a 2-2 in the last game against Morocco, which gave Tunisia one point more to the account.

In Germany, Tunisia met Saudi Arabia in the first group game and scored 2-2. They lost to Spain and the newcomer to the World Cup, Ukraine (1: 3 and 0: 1), which meant that Tunisia, third in the group, left the World Cup for 12 years.

2010 in South Africa

The qualification for the first World Cup in Africa was then missed again. In the second round, Burkina Faso , Burundi and the Seychelles were the opponents. Burkina Faso as group winners and Tunisia as one of the eight best runners-up qualified for the third round. In this, Nigeria, Mozambique and Kenya were the opponents. After three wins and two draws, Tunisia were ahead of Nigeria before the final match day, but needed a win in Mozambique to reach the World Cup. But because Tunisia lost 1-0 there, while Nigeria won 3-2 in Kenya, the World Cup was missed.

2014 in Brazil

The qualification for the second World Cup in Brazil was then also missed. In the group stage, Cape Verde , Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea were the opponents. With four wins and two draws the playoffs of the group winners were reached. After the penultimate match day, Tunisia had already qualified for the group winners' play-offs with three wins and two draws. But then Cape Verde was awarded three points on the green table by FIFA. The 4-3 defeat by Equatorial Guinea turned into a 3-0 win for Cape Verde. As a result, Cape Verde again had the opportunity to push the Tunisians from first place in the table by beating Tunisia on the last match day. Cape Verde did indeed win over Tunisia, but the 2-0 win of Cape Verde was converted by FIFA into a 3-0 win for Tunisia, as Cape Verde had used an ineligible player in Fernando Varela . The opponent in the playoffs was Cameroon . After a 0-0 home game, the second leg was lost 4-1 and the World Cup was missed.

2018 in Russia

Tunisia began qualifying under Henryk Kasperczak , who had already looked after Tunisia from 1994 to 1998 and led it to the 1998 World Cup in France, and only had to intervene in the second round, which was held in November 2015. Opponent was Mauritania , winner in the first round against South Sudan . After a 2-1 win in Mauritania, the second leg could also be won 2-1. This put Tunisia in the third round, which took place between October 2016 and November 2017, and where Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Libya were the opponents. The first two games were won (2-0 against Guinea and 1-0 in Libya), but after the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 and two friendlies against Morocco and African champions Cameroon were lost 1-0 in March , Kasperczak was released in April 2017. He inherited the former national player Nabil Maaloul . This was followed by a 2-1 home win and an away draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo (2-2 after 0-2 deficit) and a 4-1 in Guinea, which resulted in a goalless draw in the last game against Libya by one point to reach the World Cup finals as group winners.

At the final tournament in Russia, Tunisia and Panama lost both of their opening games against England and Belgium , although they only lost to England in stoppage time. Tunisia and Panama were eliminated after two group games. In the last group game against Panama a 2-1 win was achieved, which ended a series of 13 games without a win and the team improved by five places in the all-time ranking.

player

Ranking of the Tunisian World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Riadh Bouazizi and Kaies Ghodhbane - 8 appearances in 3 tournaments

03. Hatem Trabelsi - 7 appearances in 3 tournaments

04. Zoubaier Baya , Ali Boumnijel , Radhi Jaïdi , Ziad Jaziri - 6 appearances in 2 or 3 (Boumnijel) tournaments

Ranking of the Tunisian World Cup players with the most goals

1. Wahbi Khazri - 2 goals

2. Eleven players with one goal each

World Cup captains

• 1978: Témime Lahzami
• 1998: Sami Trabelsi
• 2002: Adel Sellimi (1st game), Khaled Badra (2nd and 3rd game)
• 2006: Riadh Bouazizi (replaced in every game)
• 2018: Wahbi Khazri (1st and 2nd game), Aymen Mathlouthi (3rd game)

Players banned from World Championships

• 1998: José Clayton received the second yellow card in the second group match and was suspended for the last group match.
• 2002: Hassen Gabsi received the second yellow card in the second group game and was suspended for the last group game.
• 2006: Ziad Jazir received the yellow-red card in the last group game . Since Tunisia was eliminated, this had no further effect on the tournament like the second yellow cards for captain Riadh Bouazizi and Radhi Jaïdi .
• 2018: Ferjani Sassi received the second yellow card in the last group match, but this had no effect as Tunisia were eliminated.

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

The Tunisians initially nominated less than half of the players playing abroad, then in 2006 the majority, with only the 3 goalkeepers and one field player playing in Tunisia.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1978 (3)	2 (1 in Belgium, 1 in Saudi Arabia)	Mokhtar Hasni (0); Témime Lahzami (3)
1998 (3)	4 (2 in Germany, 1 in France, 1 in Spain)	Zoubaier Baya (3), Mehdi Ben Slimane (3); Ali Boumnijel (0); Adel Sellimi (3)
2002 (3)	10 (1 in Germany, 2 in France, 4 in Italy, 1 in the Netherlands, 2 in Turkey)	Adel Sellimi (2); Selim Benachour (3), Ali Boumnijel (3); Khaled Badra (3), Raouf Bouzaiene (3), Hassen Gabsi (2), Imed Mhadhebi (2); Hatem Trabelsi (3); Zoubaier Baya (3), Riadh Bouazizi (3)
2006 (3)	19 (2 in Germany, 2 in England, 7 in France, 1 in Italy, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Norway, 1 in Scotland, 4 in Turkey)	Adel Chedli (3), Jawhar Mnari (3); Radhi Jaïdi (3), Mehdi Nafti (3); Chaouki Ben Saada (1), Haykel Gmamdia (1), Karim Haggui (3), David Jemmali (1), Francileudo dos Santos (1), Alaeddine Yahia (1), Ziad Jaziri (3); Karim Saidi (0); Hatem Trabelsi (3); Karim Essediri (1); Hamed Namouchi (1); Anis Ayari (2), Riadh Bouazizi (3), Kaies Ghodhbane (3), Sofiène Melliti (0)
2018 (3)	17 (2 in Egypt, 1 in Belgium, 1 in England, 7 in France, 5 in Saudi Arabia, 1 in Turkey)	Ali Maâloul (2), Nagguez Hamdi (2); Dylan Bronn (2); Yohan Benalouane (1); Oussama Haddai (1), Mouez Hassen (1), Seifeddine Khaoui (1), Wahbi Khazri (3), Ellyes Skhiri (2), Naïm Sliti (3), Bassem Srarfi (1); Mohamed Amine Ben Amor (1), Aymen Mathlouthi (1), Farouk Ben Mustapha (2), Ferjani Sassi (3), Fakhreddine Ben Youssef (3); Syam Ben Youssef (2)

Games

The Tunisians have played 15 World Cup games so far, of which only the first and last have been won, nine lost and four ended in a draw - one in the first four appearances. The Tunisians met the hosts once (2002), the defending champions in 1978, but never the eventual world champions and so far once a newcomer (Ukraine). Eight games were the first games against the respective opponent. Only against Belgium and England have been played twice, all other games are unique so far. As in 2018, Tunisia always met two European teams before. Except in Rosario , Tunisia only played once in each city. In all five World Cup finals, Tunisia did not get beyond the preliminary round.

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	comment
1	0June 2nd 1978	3: 1	Mexico	*	Rosario ( ARG )	1. Final round	first game against Mexico
2	0June 6, 1978	0: 1	Poland	*	Rosario ( ARG )	1. Final round
3	June 10, 1978	0-0	Germany	*	Cordoba ( ARG )	1. Final round	first game against Germany
4th	June 15, 1998	0: 2	England	*	Marseille ( FRA )	Preliminary round
5	June 22, 1998	0: 1	Colombia	*	Montpellier ( FRA )	Preliminary round	first game against Colombia
6th	June 26, 1998	1: 1	Romania	*	Saint-Denis ( FRA )	Preliminary round	first game against Romania
7th	0June 5, 2002	0: 2	Russia	*	Kobe ( JPN )	Preliminary round	first game against Russia
8th	June 10, 2002	1: 1	Belgium	*	Ōita ( JPN )	Preliminary round
9	June 14, 2002	0: 2	Japan	A.	Osaka ( JPN )	Preliminary round
10	June 14, 2006	2: 2	Saudi Arabia	*	Munich ( DEU )	Preliminary round
11	June 19, 2006	1: 3	Spain	*	Stuttgart ( DEU )	Preliminary round	first game against Spain
12	June 23, 2006	0: 1	Ukraine	*	Berlin ( DEU )	Preliminary round	first game against Ukraine
13	June 18, 2018	1: 2	England	*	Volgograd ( RUS )	Preliminary round
14th	June 23, 2018	2: 5	Belgium	*	Moscow ( RUS )	Preliminary round
15th	June 28, 2018	2: 1	Panama	*	Saransk ( RUS )	Preliminary round	first game against Panama

Highest victories and defeats

The only victories of Tunisia are also the highest victory against Mexico and Panama.

Tunisia suffered its biggest defeats against the following teams at World Cup tournaments:

•  Belgium  : Preliminary round 2018 - 2-5
•  England  : preliminary round 1998 - 2-0 (first loss to England)
•  Japan : preliminary round 2002 - 0-2
•  Colombia : Preliminary round 1998 - 1-0 (only loss to Colombia)
•  Russia }: Preliminary round 2002 - 0: 2 (only game against Russia, but also a 0: 3 against the USSR)
•  Spain : Preliminary round 2006 - 1: 3
•  Ukraine : Preliminary round 2006 - 0-1 (only game against Ukraine)

particularities

• Tunisia are the only team to be eliminated twice in qualifying by drawing lots - both times against Morocco.
• First penalty shoot-out in a World Cup qualifier: Tunisia - Morocco on January 9, 1977 in Tunis in qualifying for the 1978 World Cup

Web links

• fifa.com: Tunisia

References and footnotes

1. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930–2010 (PDF; 200 kB)
2. ↑ dfb.de: "0:00 against Tunisia: Nice and the" fainting on the bench ""
3. ↑ afrika-cup.de: World Cup qualification: Preview 6th matchday
4. ↑ kicker.de: "Cape Verde punished - Tunisia can hope again"
5. ↑ freiepresse.de: "Tunisia separates from national coach Kasperczak"
6. ↑ fifa.com: Maaloul new national coach for Tunisia
7. ↑ One of them in the 2nd division