Appearances: Four
Best finish: Group stage (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006)
Manager: Nabil Maaloul
Star Player: Wahbi Khazri
Tunisia’s hopes of getting out of the group for the first time in five attempts, in this, their first appearance in 12 years, were dealt a massive blow when their Qatari-based star player Yousuf Msakni was ruled out for six months following a knee injury in April.
The 27-year-old Al Duhail forward played a crucial role in qualifying - where Tunisia topped a group unbeaten ahead of Congo, Libya and Guinea - scoring a hat-trick in an away win over Guinea.
Without Msakni though, the Eagles of Carthage will have to rely on their attacking midfielders, Lille’s Naim Sliti and Sunderland’s Wahbi Khazri, to get the goals.
Maaloul replaced Henri Kasperczak as coach in April 2017 after Tunisia were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations.
The team were just two matches into World Cup qualification by that stage, but Maaloul admirably led them the rest of the way to Russia.
His side relies around deep-sitting Saudi-based midfielders Ferjani Sassi of Al Nassr and Mohammad Amor of Al Ahli, ahead of Valencia’s Aymen Abdennour at the back. This system allows full-backs to push forward to supply the attack.
The quality of their players, with most unheard of and playing domestically, probably won’t be enough to get past England and Belgium however, and Msakni’s injury has made that even less likely.
Write off Tunisia at your peril though, as they were the first Arab team to win a World Cup match against Mexico 3-1 on their debut in 1978 and followed it up a goalless draw against West Germany at that tournament.
They also held Belgium to a 1-1 draw at the 2002 World Cup and even held England to a 1-1 draw in a friendly just ahead of the 1990 World Cup where the Three Lions went on to reach the semi-finals.
With a history of scalps, and two friendly wins over Iran and Costa Rica since qualifying, they may have struggled to get out of the group, but are more than capable of pulling off an upset, so the Belgium and England would do well not to take the minnows for granted.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Farouk Ben Mustapha, Moez Hassan, Aymen Mathlouthi
Defenders: Rami Bedoui, Yohan Benalouane, Syam Ben Youssef, Dylan Bronn, Oussama Haddadi, Ali Maaloul, Yassine Meriah, Hamdi Nagguez
Midfielders: Mohammad Amine Ben Amor, Ghaylene Chaalali, Ahmad Khalil, Seifeddine Khaoui, Wahbi Khazri, Ferjani Sassi, Elyes Skhiri
Forwards: Fakhreddine Ben Youssef, Anice Badri, Saber Khalifa, Naim Sliti, Bassem Srarfi.
