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Tunisia A' national football team
The Tunisia A' national football team, is the local national team that has represented Tunisia in football, since it played its first match on 30 March 2008 against Libya, which ended in a 1–1 draw. It is a member team of FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) supervised by the Tunisian Football Federation (TFF), which was established on 29 March 1957. Colloquially known as the Eagles of Carthage by fans and media and the bald eagle is its symbol. Their home kit is primarily red and their away kit white, a reference to their national flag. Tunisia's main venue is the Hammadi Agrebi Stadium in Radès, Tunis. The Tunisian A' national football team is only open to Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 players. The team played its first match on 30 March 2008 against Libya at the 2009 African Nations Championship qualification and ended in a 1–1 draw. Tunisia won the African Nations Championship in 2011 from the first appearance by beating Angola in the final 3–0, which was held in Sudan.[1] FIFA counts its matches as international A matches and does not distinguish the first team from the A' team. The team has not played a match since 20 October 2019. History2008: BeginningsTunisia's national team entered the 2009 African Nations Championship qualification,[2] where they participated with the Olympic team against Libya and played their first match on 30 March 2008 in Tripoli, which ended with a score of 1–1, where Youssef Mouihbi scored the first team's goal. In the return match in Tunis, the two teams drew 1–1 again and Libya qualified for the finals on penalties 5–6. 2010–2011: Sami Trabelsi, first successes In 2010, the team played the 2011 African Nations Championship qualification against Morocco.[3] On 23 May, the two teams drew 1–1 in Sousse and again on 5 May 2–2, in a thrilling match in Casablanca that saw Tunisia qualify for the finals for the first time on away goals rule. The beginning of 2011 saw tough political events in Tunisia. Under new coach Sami Trabelsi, during the finals in Sudan, Tunisia is in Group D alongside Angola, Rwanda and Senegal. On 7 February, Tunisia played their first match against Angola, which ended in a 1–1 draw,[4] with Youssef Msakni scoring Tunisia's first goal in the finals.[5] Four days later, the team achieved its first victory against Rwanda 3–1 with goals from Oussama Darragi, Salema Kasdaoui and Zouheir Dhaouadi.[6][7] The team achieved another victory against Senegal, with a score of 2–0,[8] with goals from Kasdaoui and Khaled Korbi,[9] to qualify for the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, Tunisia faced last edition title holder DR Congo.[10] The team managed to win, with a goal by Dhawadi's in the 50th minute.[11] The semi-final witnessed a strong confrontation during the Maghreb derby between Tunisia and Algeria. Kasdaoui scored Tunisia's first goal after a cross from Dhaouadi in the 18th minute, during his celebration of the goal, he took out a paper and addressed it to the camera, on which was written in arabic "Tunisia is free".[12][13] While Abdelmoumene Djabou scored the equaliser for Algeria with a shot from outside the area that Aymen Mathlouthi was unable to stop. The regular and extra time ended in a 1–1 draw, with Tunisia winning on penalties 5–3,[14] with Rami Jridi stopping Hocine Metref's kick with his fist.[15] Tunisia qualified for the final match to face Angola.  In the final, Angola started off well, piling feverish pressure on the Eagles of Carthage through the right flank but lacked of polish with their finishing. Tunisia nearly scored in the 13th minutes but the Palancas Negras man between the woodworks Lamá made a point blank save. Three minutes after, Dhaouadi came close to scoring, but the Angolan goalkeeper anticipated well to block it from his post. Mejdi Traoui's powerful drive in the 20th minutes was punched aside by Lama who was well positioned to deny the Eagles their first goal.[16] Adel Chedli sent the Carthage fans on their foot at the Al-Merrikh Stadium in the 37th minutes, but he missed the post by an inch.[17] Their one-two-one-two upfront kept mesmerizing the Angolan guardsmen but their finishing were poorly executed.[18] The north Africans returned from the interval determined. Two minutes into the second half Traoui in the ball from waist level with a right foot from Dhaouadi's cross from the left flank. Tunisia’s onslaughts began paying off from the 74th minute when Zouhaier doubled their lead with a left foot roll of the ball that went past Lamá straight into the woodwork. As the game wore on substitute Darragi put the final nail on the coffin in the 80th minutes to give the north Africans the ultimate.[19] Dhaouadi and Kasdaoui finished the tournament as top scorers with 3 goals, and Dhaouadi was chosen as the best player.[20] 2013–2016: Second appearance and declineIn July 2013, placed under the direction of Nabil Maâloul, the team entered the 2014 African Nations Championship qualification, facing Morocco home and away.[21] Tunisia were defeated 1–0 in Sousse and drew 0–0 in Tangier,[22][23] failing to qualify for the finals.[24] In 2015, the team entered the 2016 African Nations Championship qualification, through the North Zone group alongside Libya and Morocco under the direction of Henryk Kasperczak. The first and second days were played in June in Casablanca. Tunisia tied with Morocco 1–1,[25] while it lost against Libya 0–1.[26] The third and fourth days were played in October in Radès. The team won against Libya 1–0 and lost against Morocco 2–3.[27][28] Tunisia qualified for the finals with a poor performance, finishing second in the group with a win, a draw and two defeats.[29] During the finals in Rwanda, Hatem Missaoui led the team. Tunisia was drawn in Group C alongside Guinea, Nigeria and Niger.[30][31] Tunisia played the opening match on 18 January 2016 against Guinea. The match ended in a 2–2 draw. Ahmed Akaïchi scored two goals in the 33rd and 50th minutes, while Alsény Camara also scored two goals in the 40th and 87th minutes.[32] Tunisia also drew 1–1 against Nigeria in the second match. The opponents took the lead in the 52nd minute with a goal by Chisom Chikatara, while Tunisia equalized with a goal by Akaïchi in the 69th minute.[33] In the third match against Niger, Tunisia achieved a big victory with a score of 5–0.[34] Saad Bguir scored two goals in the 5th and 39th minutes, Akaïchi added the third goal in the 78th, Mohamed Amine Ben Amor scored the fourth goal in the 80th, and Hichem Essifi concluded the five goals in the 90+1 minute, to qualify for the quarter-finals in the top of the group with two draws and a win.[35] In the quarter-finals, Tunisia faced Mali.The team took the lead through Mohamed Ali Moncer in the 14th minute, however Mali turned the game around with goals from Aliou Dieng from the penalty spot in the 70th minute and Abdoulaye Diarra adding the second ten minutes later to eliminate Tunisia from the competition after the 1–2 defeat.[36][37] 2016–present: Total absenceOn 22 September 2016, the Tunisian Football Federation announced that it would not enter the 2018 African Nations Championship qualification due to the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification.[38] In September 2019, under Mondher Kebaier, the team entered the qualifiers for the 2020 edition, where they won home and away against Libya 1–0 in Radès and 2–1 in Salé due to the Libyan Civil War.[39][40] However, on 20 December 2019, the Tunisian Football Federation withdrew from the tournament due to the intensity of the matches after the teams agreed.[41] This led to the imposition of sanctions by the Confederation of African Football, fining the Tunisian Federation $50,000, in addition to banning the national team from participating in the next edition in Algeria.[42][43] The team didn't enter to the 2022 African Nations Championship qualification.[44] Possible returnOn 9 October 2024, during the draw for the 2024 African Nations Championship qualification, the Confederation of African Football announced that three teams from Northern Zone would automatically qualify including Tunisia,[45] after Egypt and previous hosts Algeria withdrawing. On 5 November, the Federation confirmed Tunisia's participation in the finals. Managerial history
PlayersCurrent squadThe following players were called up for the 2020 African Nations Championship qualification matches against Libya on 21 September and 20 October 2019.
RecordsAfrican Nations Championship
ResultsAll-time results
Results and fixturesThe team has not played a match since 20 October 2019. 2019
RecordsAll−time recordThe list shown below shows the Tunisia national football team all−time international record against opposing nations.
Positive balance (more wins than losses)
Neutral balance (as many wins as losses)
Negative balance (more losses than wins)
Honours and awards
See also
Notes
References
External links
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