Tunisia finished at the top of Group B in the second round qualifying to set up a playoff against Mali for a World Cup place. Moussa Sissako’s own goal gave Jalel Kadri’s team a 1-0 win in the first leg, and they fought to a 0-0 stalemate in Tunisia to guarantee their place in the World Cup for the second time in a row. This will be Tunisia’s sixth World Cup appearance. Before qualifying for three consecutive tournaments in 1998, 2002, and 2006, they made their competition debut back in 1978. In 2018, they made their most recent appearance and were a part of the same squad as England. After losing to England and Belgium, they were once again eliminated in the group stage, despite their victory over Panama.
For Tunisia, reaching the knockout stages for the first time in their history in Qatar is the only goal. Tunisia has been eliminated from the World Cup at the group stage on each of their five previous occasions. The goal is evident this time, though. In pot three of the World Cup draw, Tunisia was the lowest-ranked team and hopes to advance from their group along with France, Denmark, and Australia.
A potential vital player for Tunisia is the young Manchester United player Hannibal Mejbri, who is now on loan at Birmingham City in the Championship. At the age of 19, Mejbri has received 12 caps, and Tunisia manager Jalel Kadri has already said that the player and his country might benefit much from Mejbri playing regularly in the Championship this year. Ellyes Skhiri will be crucial to Tunisia’s prospects of winning this competition, though. The midfielder is a dependable member of Cologne’s Bundesliga squad, where his primary responsibility is to protect his team’s defense. That is also his primary responsibility for his nation, and he will undoubtedly face challenges when competing with France, Denmark, and Australia.
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