Tunisia national football team

Tunisia

Nickname(s)	Les Aigles de Carthage (The Eagles of Carthage)
Association	Fédération Tunisienne de Football
Confederation	CAF (Africa)
Head coach	Bertrand Marchand
Captain	Karim Haggui
Most caps	Sadok Sassi "Attouga" (110)
Top scorer	Francileudo Santos (22)
Home stadium	Stade 7 November
FIFA code	TUN
FIFA ranking	55
Highest FIFA ranking	19 (February 1998)
Lowest FIFA ranking	56 (March 2008, March 2010)
Elo ranking	49
Highest Elo ranking	24 (June 1978)
Lowest Elo ranking	103 (July 1988)
Home colours Away colours
First international
Tunisia 1–2 Algeria (Tunisia; 25 June 1957)
Biggest win
Tunisia 7–0 Togo (Tunis, Tunisia; 7 January 2000) Tunisia 7–0 Malawi (Tunis, Tunisia; 26 March 2005)
Biggest defeat
Hungary 10–1 Tunisia (Hungary; 24 July 1960)
World Cup
Appearances	4 (First in 1978)
Best result	Round 1, 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006
African Nations Cup
Appearances	14 (First in 1962)
Best result	Winners, 2004
Confederations Cup
Appearances	1 (First in 2005)
Best result	Round 1, 2005

The Tunisia national football team (Arabic: منتخب تونس لكرة القدم‎), nicknamed Les Aigles de Carthage (The Eagles of Carthage), is the national team of Tunisia and is controlled by the Fédération Tunisienne de Football. They have qualified for four FIFA World Cups, the first one in 1978, but have yet to make it out of the first round. Nevertheless, they created history in that 1978 tournament in Argentina by becoming the first African side to win a World Cup match, beating Mexico 3–1. They also held defending champions West Germany to a goalless draw before bowing out. It took them 20 years to return to the finals but they have since qualified for the three tournaments in succession, in 1998, 2002 and 2006. They were the only African team to appear at the 2002 and 2006 tournaments – 2002 qualifiers Senegal, Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa were replaced by Ivory Coast, Angola, Ghana and Togo, who were all first-time qualifiers.

Tunisia also won the African Nations Cup in 2004, for the first time in their history, when they hosted the tournament.

1978 World Cup

Tunisia's first World Cup was the 1978 competition held in Argentina. They created history by becoming the first African team to win a World Cup game, defeating Mexico 3–1 in Rosario^[1]. An unlucky 1–0 defeat to 1974 semi-finalists Poland followed, but The Eagles Of Carthage then held reigning champions West Germany to a very credible 0–0 draw (West Germany had beaten Mexico 6-0 in their previous game. But that wasn't enough to send them through to the knockout rounds. Despite that tournament being one of Tunisia's finest, they failed to qualify for the World Cup again until twenty years later.

1998 World Cup

Prior to the 1998 World Cup, Tunisia had gained a 'minnow' reputation, and were going through possibly their worst era ever. However, Adel Selmi's team put in a good performance at the World Cup, but a 2–0 defeat to England and a 1–0 loss against Colombia sent them home at the group stage. Their only point was in a 1–1 draw with Romania.

2002 World Cup

Tunisia made it to their 2nd successive World Cup, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. They started with a 2–0 loss against Russia, but a superb Raouf Bouzaiene free kick gave them a 1–1 draw against Belgium. Their final game resulted in a 2–0 defeat to co-hosts Japan, meaning they were knocked out in the group stages.

2004 African Nations Cup

Tunisia's first major honour was the 2004 African Cup of Nations, which they hosted. Manager Roger Lemerre became a Tunisian legend after the victory, but it wasn't easy. The tournament started with a 2–1 win over minnows Rwanda in Rades. That was followed by a comfortable 3–0 win against DR Congo and a 1–1 draw with Guinea. The quarter-finals saw them beat much fancied Senegal 1–0, and that was the moment where Tunisia seriously believed they win the competition. The semi-final was a memorable affair – it came against favourites Nigeria. Jay-Jay Okocha scored a penalty for the Super Eagles, but with less than 10 minutes remaining, Tunisia captain Khaled Badra also scored from the spot. The game finished 1–1 and went to penalties. Veteran keeper Ali Boumnijel saved Peter Odemwingie's strike to put Tunisia in a commanding position, allowing a 20-year-old Karim Haggui to score the winning spot kick and send the host nation through to their 3rd Nations Cup final. The final was against their fierce local rivals Morocco, and Brazilian-born striker Francileudo Santos put The Eagles Of Carthage 1–0 ahead on just 4 minutes. Morocco equalised just before half-time, but Ziad Jaziri made it 2–1 on 51 minutes to win it for Tunisia.

2006 World Cup

At first many Tunisians criticized Roger Lemerre for not putting in Selim Benachour who many considered the best player for the country who currently plays for Vitoria SC

Tunisia managed to draw their opening game against Saudi Arabia. They took the lead at half time thanks to Ziad Jaziri, but Tunisia didn't start well in the second half and Saudi Arabia equalized from Yasser Al-Qahtani. Saudi Arabia's legend Sami Al-Jaber came on as a substitute and scored with 4 minutes to go to put the Saudi's 2–1 up, but in added time Bolton defender Radhi Jaidi headed in an equalizer.

Tunisia lost their second match to Spain. Jaouhar Mnari put Tunisia in the lead with a goal in the eighth minute that kept them up until halftime. However, Spain came back in the second half scoring an equalizer that came from Raúl (72') and two additional goals from Fernando Torres (76', pen 90') that defeated Tunisia with a final score of 3–1.

Tunisia lost their last group match to Ukraine with a 1–0 defeat ending their 2006 World Cup. Andriy Shevchenko(70') scored the only goal from an imaginary penalty kick.

2010 World Cup Qualifications

Drawing Group B in the 3rd round of qualifications, Tunisia drew the tough task of needing to top perennial African powerhouse, Nigeria. Tunisia went to the top of the group with a big 2-1 victory over Kenya on the road at Nyayo National Stadium in March 2010. They would follow that with a victory over Mozambique, back-to-back draws against Nigeria, and a 1-0 defeat of Kenya. They would lead the group the entire way, until they dropped a critical final game in group play to Mozambique, 1-0. Needing a victory to guarantee passage, their devastating loss combined with a thrilling 3-2 Nigerian victory over Kenya bolted Nigeria to the top of the Group by a single point.

World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1930 to 1958	Did not enter
1962	Did not qualify
1966	Withdrew
1970 to 1974	Did not qualify
1978	Round 1	9	3	1	1	1	3	2
1982 to 1994	Did not qualify
1998	Round 1	27	3	0	1	2	1	4
2002	Round 1	29	3	0	1	2	1	5
2006	Round 1	24	3	0	1	2	3	6
2010	Did not qualify
Total	4/19		12	1	4	7	8	17

FIFA World Cup History
Year	Round	Score	Result
1978	Round 1	Tunisia 3 – 1  Mexico	Win
	Round 1	Tunisia 0 – 1  Poland	Loss
	Round 1	Tunisia 0 – 0  Germany	Draw
1998	Round 1	Tunisia 0 – 2  England	Loss
	Round 1	Tunisia 0 – 1  Colombia	Loss
	Round 1	Tunisia 1 – 1  Romania	Draw
2002	Round 1	Tunisia 0 – 2  Russia	Loss
	Round 1	Tunisia 1 – 1  Belgium	Draw
	Round 1	Tunisia 0 – 2  Japan	Loss
2006	Round 1	Tunisia 2 – 2  Saudi Arabia	Draw
	Round 1	Tunisia 1 – 3  Spain	Loss
	Round 1	Tunisia 0 – 1  Ukraine	Loss

FIFA Confederations Cup record

Year	Round	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
1992 to 2003	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2005	Round 1	3	1	0	2	3	5
2009	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	1/8	3	1	0	2	3	5

African Nations Cup record

African Cup of Nations
Titles: 1 Appearances: 14
Year	Position		Year	Position		Year	Position
1957	Did not enter		1976	Did not qualify		1994	Round 1
1959	Did not enter		1978	Fourth place		1996	Runners up
1962	Third place		1980	Withdrew		1998	Quarter-finals
1963	Round 1		1982	Round 1		2000	Fourth place
1965	Runners up		1984	Did not qualify		2002	Round 1
1968	Did not qualify		1986	Did not qualify		2004	Champions
1970	Did not enter		1988	Did not qualify		2006	Quarter-finals
1972	Did not qualify		1990	Did not qualify		2008	Quarter-finals
1974	Did not enter		1992	Did not qualify		2010	Round 1

For 2010, see 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

**Gold background color indicates that the tournament was won.

Current squad

The following players have been called up for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola

Caps and goals as of January 21, 2010, subsequent to the African Cup of Nations match against Cameroon.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of Birth (Age) Caps Goals Club Goalkeepers 1 GK Adel Nefzi March 16, 1974 (1974-03-16) (age 36) 3 0 Club Africain 16 GK Aymen Mathlouthi September 14, 1984 (1984-09-14) (age 26) 30 0 Étoile du Sahel 22 GK Farouk Ben Mustapha July 1, 1989 (1989-07-01) (age 21) 0 0 Bizertin Defenders 2 DF Khaled Souissi May 20, 1985 (1985-05-20) (age 25) 12 0 Club Africain 3 DF Karim Haggui January 20, 1984 (1984-01-20) (age 27) 65 5 Hannover 96 4 DF Radhouène Felhi March 25, 1984 (1984-03-25) (age 26) 23 2 Munich 1860 5 DF Ammar Jemal 20 April 1987 (1987-04-20) (age 23) 9 2 BSC Young Boys 11 DF Souheïl Ben Radhia August 26, 1985 (1985-08-26) (age 25) 3 0 Étoile du Sahel 12 DF Khalil Chemmam July 24, 1987 (1987-07-24) (age 23) 2 0 Espérance 18 DF Yassin Mikari January 9, 1983 (1983-01-09) (age 28) 28 0 Sochaux Midfielders 6 MF Hocine Ragued February 11, 1983 (1983-02-11) (age 28) 24 0 Slavia Prague 7 MF Chaouki Ben Saada July 1, 1984 (1984-07-01) (age 26) 33 4 Nice 8 MF Khaled Korbi December 16, 1985 (1985-12-16) (age 25) 9 0 Espérance 10 MF Oussama Darragi April 3, 1987 (1987-04-03) (age 23) 13 3 Espérance 13 MF Chadi Hammami June 14, 1986 (1986-06-14) (age 24) 8 0 Sfaxien 14 MF Haytham Mrabet October 15, 1980 (1980-10-15) (age 30) 5 0 Sfaxien 15 MF Zouheir Dhaouadi January 11, 1988 (1988-01-11) (age 23) 7 1 Club Africain 20 MF Mohamed Ali Nafkha January 25, 1986 (1986-01-25) (age 25) 14 1 Étoile du Sahel Forwards 9 FW Amine Chermiti December 26, 1987 (1987-12-26) (age 23) 32 11 Ittihad Jeddah 17 FW Issam Jomâa January 28, 1984 (1984-01-28) (age 27) 41 13 Lens 19 FW Youssef Msakni October 28, 1990 (1990-10-28) (age 20) 1 0 Espérance 23 FW Ahmed Akaïchi February 23, 1989 (1989-02-23) (age 21) 2 0 Étoile du Sahel

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up to the Tunisia squad within the last 12 months.

Goalkeepers

Player	DoB/Age	Caps	Goals	Team	Most Recent Call up
Hamdi Kasraoui	January 18, 1983 (1983-01-18) (age 28)	29	0	Lens	World Cup qualifier v. Mozambique, Nov. 14, 2009
Jassem Khalloufi	September 2, 1981 (1981-09-02) (age 29)	0	0	Sfaxien	World Cup qualifier v. Mozambique, Nov. 14, 2009
Nadim Thabet	October 10, 1984 (1984-10-10) (age 26)	0	0	Jendouba	Friendly match v. Ghana, November 19, 2008
Farouk Ben Mustapha	July 1, 1989 (1989-07-01) (age 21)	0	0	Bizertin	World Cup qualifier v. Kenya, October 11, 2009

Defenders

Player	DoB/Age	Caps	Goals	Team	Most Recent call-up
Saïf Ghezal	June 30, 1981 (1981-06-30) (age 29)	27	1	Al-Ahli Jeddah	World Cup qualifier v. Mozambique, Nov. 14, 2009
Aymen Abdennour	August 6, 1989 (1989-08-06) (age 21)	10	1	Werder Bremen	World Cup qualifier v. Mozambique, Nov. 14, 2009
Sofian Chahed	April 18, 1983 (1983-04-18) (age 27)	7	0	Hannover 96	World Cup qualifier v. Mozambique, Nov. 14, 2009
Saber Ben Frej	July 3, 1979 (1979-07-03) (age 31)	19	5	Le Mans	Friendly match v. France, October 14, 2008
Anis Boussaidi	April 10, 1981 (1981-04-10) (age 29)	3	0	Red Bull Salzburg	Friendly match v. Ghana, November 19, 2008
Abdelmonem Derbali	February 10, 1981 (1981-02-10) (age 30)	0	0	Club Africain	Friendly match v. Ghana, November 19, 2008
Khaled Zeïri	August 25, 1986 (1986-08-25) (age 24)	0	0	Stade Tunisien	Friendly match v. Ghana, November 19, 2008
Radhi Jaïdi	August 30, 1975 (1975-08-30) (age 35)	101	7	Southampton	Friendly match v. Netherlands, February 1, 2009
Mehdi Meriah	June 5, 1979 (1979-06-05) (age 31)	9	0	Étoile du Sahel	Friendly match v. Côte d'Ivoire, March 26, 2009
Yamen Ben Zekry	July 10, 1979 (1979-07-10) (age 31)	4	0	free agent	Friendly match v. Côte d'Ivoire, August 12, 2009
Zied Derbali	October 11, 1984 (1984-10-11) (age 26)	0	0	Espérance	World Cup qualifier v. Kenya, October 11, 2009

Midfielders

Player	DoB/Age	Caps	Goals	Team	Most Recent Call up
Nabil Taïder	May 26, 1983 (1983-05-26) (age 27)	8	2	Sivasspor	World Cup qualifier v. Kenya, October 11, 2009
Jamel Saihi	January 21, 1987 (1987-01-21) (age 24)	4	1	Montpellier	World Cup qualifier v. Mozambique, Nov. 14, 2009
Wissem Ben Yahia	September 9, 1984 (1984-09-09) (age 26)	7	0	Club Africain
Anis Boujelbene	February 6, 1978 (1978-02-06) (age 33)	20	2	Club Africain	Friendly match v. France, October 14, 2008
Mejdi Mosrati	September 13, 1986 (1986-09-13) (age 24)	2	0	Étoile du Sahel	Friendly match v. France, October 14, 2008
Mejdi Traoui	December 13, 1983 (1983-12-13) (age 27)	2	0	Red Bull Salzburg	Friendly match v. Ghana, November 19, 2008
Fabien Camus	February 28, 1985 (1985-02-28) (age 25)	1	0	Genk	Friendly match v. Netherlands, February 1, 2009
Mehdi Nafti	November 28, 1978 (1978-11-28) (age 32)	41	1	Aris Thessaloniki	Friendly match v. France, May 30, 2010
Aïmen Demai	December 10, 1982 (1982-12-10) (age 28)	1	0	Alemannia Aachen	Friendly match v. Netherlands, February 1, 2009

Forwards

Player	DoB/Age	Caps	Goals	Team	Most Recent Call up
Ali Zitouni	January 11, 1981 (1981-01-11) (age 30)	44	14	Antalyaspor	World Cup qualifier v. Mozambique, Nov. 14, 2009
Sami Allagui	May 28, 1986 (1986-05-28) (age 24)	2	1	Greuther Fürth	World Cup qualifier v. Mozambique, Nov. 14, 2009
Fahid Ben Khalfallah	October 19, 1982 (1982-10-19) (age 28)	9	1	Valenciennes	World Cup qualifier v. Mozambique, Nov. 14, 2009
Mohamed Ali Ghariani	June 11, 1983 (1983-06-11) (age 27)	5	0	Tours
Hichem Essifi	February 27, 1987 (1987-02-27) (age 23)	4	2	US Monastir	Friendly match v. France, October 14, 2008
Francileudo Santos	March 20, 1979 (1979-03-20) (age 31)	40	22	free agent	Friendly match v. Ghana, November 19, 2008
Mohamed Selliti	March 28, 1981 (1981-03-28) (age 29)	22	0	Ismaily	Friendly match v. Netherlands, February 1, 2009
Walid Tayeb	March 24, 1981 (1981-03-24) (age 29)	1	0	Espérance	Friendly match v. Netherlands, February 1, 2009
Yassine Chikhaoui	September 22, 1986 (1986-09-22) (age 24)	18	8	FC Zürich	Friendly match v. Côte d'Ivoire, March 26, 2009
Ziad Jaziri	July 12, 1978 (1978-07-12) (age 32)	64	14	Free agent	Friendly match v. Côte d'Ivoire, March 26, 2009
Lassad Nouioui	March 8, 1986 (1986-03-08) (age 24)	16	3	Deportivo	World Cup qualifier v. Kenya, October 11, 2009

Coaches

• Rachid Turki 1956–57
• Hachemi Cherif 1957–60
• Milan Kristic 1960–61
• Frane Matošić 1961–63
• André Gérard 1963–65
• Mokhtar Ben Nacef 1965–68
• Rado Radocijic 1968–69
• Beogovic Sereta 1969
• Rado Radocijic 1970
• Hameur Hizem 1970–74
• André Nagy 1974–75
• Abdelmajid Chetali 1975–78
• Hameur Hizem 1978–79
• Ahmed Dhib 1979–80
• Hameur Hizem 1980–81
• Ryszard Kulesza 1981–83
• Youssef Zouaoui 1984–86
• Jean Vincent 1986–87
• Taoufik Ben Othman 1987–88
• Antoni Piechniczek 1988
• Mokhtar Tlili 1988–89
• Antoni Piechniczek 1989
• Mrad Moujab 1989–93
• Youssef Zouaoui 1993–94
• Faouzi Benzarti 1994
• Henryk Kasperczak 1994–98
• Francesco Scoglio 1998–01
• Eckhard Krautzun 2001
• Henri Michel 2001–02
• Ammar Souayah 2002
• Youssef Zouaoui 2002
• Roger Lemerre 2002–08
• Humberto Coelho 2008–09
• Faouzi Benzarti 2009–10
• Sami Trabelsi 2010
• Bertrand Marchand 2010-

^[2]

Former players

Tunisia all time record against all nations

Against	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD
Angola	3	1	2	0	5	2	+3
Argentina	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
Australia	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Austria	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Belarus	1	1	0	0	3	0	+3
Belgium	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Benin	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3
Botswana	2	2	0	0	7	2	+5
Burkina Faso	2	0	1	1	1	2	−1
Burundi	2	2	0	0	3	1	+2
Cameroon	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1
Congo	2	2	0	0	8	1	+7
Congo DR	4	3	1	0	14	2	+12
Côte d'Ivoire	5	2	2	1	6	5	+1
Denmark	1	0	0	1	1	2	−1
Egypt	3	1	1	1	2	2	0
France	2	0	1	1	2	4	−2
Gabon	2	1	1	0	5	3	+2
Germany	1	0	0	1	0	3	−3
Ghana	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2
Guinea	6	1	3	2	5	7	−2
Italy	1	1	0	0	0	4	−4
Japan	2	0	0	2	0	3	−3
Kenya	6	5	1	0	10	2	+8
Korea Republic	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Liberia	1	1	0	0	7	2	+5
Libya	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3
Madagascar	2	2	0	0	3	0	+3
Malawi	2	1	1	0	9	2	+7
Mali	2	1	0	1	1	1	0
Mauritius	2	1	1	0	2	0	+2
Morocco	7	1	4	2	6	8	−2
Mozambique	2	1	0	1	2	1	+1
Namibia	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2
Netherlands	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Nigeria	4	0	4	0	4	4	0
Norway	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Portugal	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Romania	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Russia	1	0	0	1	0	2	−2
Rwanda	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1
Saudi Arabia	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1
Senegal	4	2	2	0	4	2	+2
Serbia	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Seychelles	4	4	0	0	14	0	+14
Slovenia	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
South Africa	4	3	0	1	7	3	+4
Spain	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2
Sudan	3	2	0	1	7	3	+4
Sweden	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Switzerland	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
Togo	1	0	0	1	1	0	+1
United Arab Emirates	1	1	0	0	1	0	+1
Ukraine	1	0	0	1	0	1	−1
Uruguay	1	0	1	0	0	0	0
Zambia	4	2	1	1	6	3	+3
Total

References

External links

• Tunisian FA official site
• Tunisia World Cup Team Blog

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