# Tunisia at the FIFA Arab Cup

Tunisia has participated three times in the FIFA Arab Cup, the biggest men's football event in the Arab world. In 1963, Tunisia won the first edition of the Arab Cup. That year, only one group stage was played. In this group stage, five countries are playing. Tunisia won all four matches and therefore finished in first place. After that, she participated in this tournament again, in 1988, did not win a single match and failed in the group stage.
In 2021, the national team participated in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup, the first edition under the auspices of FIFA with the participation of sixteen teams in the final tournament. The team reached the final after defeating Mauritania, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Egypt, but lost to Algeria and won the silver medal.

## Overall record

| FIFA Arab Cup record | FIFA Arab Cup record | FIFA Arab Cup record | FIFA Arab Cup record | FIFA Arab Cup record | FIFA Arab Cup record | FIFA Arab Cup record | FIFA Arab Cup record | FIFA Arab Cup record | FIFA Arab Cup record | FIFA Arab Cup qualification record | FIFA Arab Cup qualification record | FIFA Arab Cup qualification record | FIFA Arab Cup qualification record | FIFA Arab Cup qualification record | FIFA Arab Cup qualification record | FIFA Arab Cup qualification record |
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Ref. |
| 1963 | Champions | 1st | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | Squad | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | |
| 1964 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1966 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1985 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1988 | Group stage | 7th | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | Squad | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1992 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 1998 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2002 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2012 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
| 2021 | Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 6 | Squad | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | |
| 2025 | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined | To be determined |
| Total | Champions | 3/10 | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 11 | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — |

## Matches

Win  Draw  Loss
| Part | Year | No. | Stage | Date | Opponent | Result | Tunisia scorers |
| 1 | 1963 | 1 | Final tournament | 2 April 1963 | Syria | 1–0 | Ben Amor 20' |
| 1 | 1963 | 2 | Final tournament | 4 April 1963 | Jordan | 4–0 | Haddad 1', 6' Jedidi 26' Henia 34' |
| 1 | 1963 | 3 | Final tournament | 6 April 1963 | Kuwait | 5–1 | Habacha 9' Jedidi 21', 54' Henia 73' Haddad 78' |
| 1 | 1963 | 4 | Final tournament | 7 April 1963 | Lebanon | 1–0 | Haddad 10' |
| 2 | 1988 | 5 | Group stage | 9 July 1988 | Iraq | 1–1 | Mahjoubi 62' |
| 2 | 1988 | 6 | Group stage | 11 July 1988 | Saudi Arabia Ol. | 1–1 | Maaloul 90' (pen.) |
| 2 | 1988 | 7 | Group stage | 13 July 1988 | Egypt | 0–1 | — |
| 2 | 1988 | 8 | Group stage | 17 July 1988 | Lebanon | 1–1 | Mehedhebi 46' |
| 3 | 2021 | 9 | Group stage | 30 November 2021 | Mauritania | 5–1 | Jaziri 39', 45+2' Ben Larbi 42', 51' Msakni 90+1' |
| 3 | 2021 | 10 | Group stage | 3 December 2021 | Syria | 0–2 | — |
| 3 | 2021 | 11 | Group stage | 6 December 2021 | United Arab Emirates | 1–0 | Jaziri 10' |
| 3 | 2021 | 12 | Quarter-finals | 10 December 2021 | Oman | 2–1 | Jaziri 16' Msakni 69' |
| 3 | 2021 | 13 | Semi-finals | 15 December 2021 | Egypt | 1–0 | El Solia 90+5' (o.g.) |
| 3 | 2021 | 14 | Final | 18 December 2021 | Algeria | 0–2 (a.e.t.) | — |

## Tournaments
### 1963 Arab Cup
#### Final tournament

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Tunisia | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | +10 | 8 |
| Syria | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 3 | +8 | 6 |
| Lebanon | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 4 | +9 | 4 |
| Kuwait | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 2 |
| Jordan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 17 | −17 | 0 |
| Lebanon | Tunisia |
Lebanon: :
| GK | 1 | Samih Chatila |
| DF | 5 | Youssef Yammouth |
| DF | 12 | Samik Sabkadjian |
| DF | 2 | Muhieddine "Tabello" Itani | 15' |
| DF | 13 | Elias "Kharma" Georges |
| MF | 6 | Ahmad Alameh |
| MF | 7 | Robert "Roro" Chehadeh |
| MF | 10 | Mardik Tchaparian |
| FW | 16 | Levon Altounian (c) |
| FW | 4 | Joseph Abou Murad |
| FW | 15 | Mahmoud "Abou Taleb" Berjaoui |
| Substitutes: |||
| DF | 19 | Camille Haidar | 15' |
| Manager: |||
| Joseph Nalbandian |||
Tunisia: :
| GK | 1 | Abdelkader "Zerga" Ghalem |
| DF | 2 | Mohsen Keffala |
| DF | 6 | Mohsen Habacha |
| DF | 4 | Ahmed Sghaïer |
| DF | 16 | Mahfoudh Benzarti |
| MF | 9 | Taoufik Ben Othman |
| MF | 12 | Mongi Haddad |
| MF | 10 | Abdelmajid Chetali (c) |
| FW | 17 | Alaya Sassi |
| FW | 8 | Mohamed Salah Jedidi |
| FW | 11 | Hammadi Henia |
| Substitutes: |||
| DF | 3 | Hédi Douiri |
| Manager: |||
| André Gérard |||

### 1988 Arab Cup
#### Group stage

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Egypt | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 6 |
| Iraq | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 5 |
| Lebanon | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 4 |
| Tunisia | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 3 |
| Saudi Arabia Ol. | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 2 |

### 2021 FIFA Arab Cup

Qatar hosted the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup. Tunisia qualified directly, due to the FIFA World Rankings. Tunisia started with a large victory 5–1 against Mauritania. Then, the team suffered an unexpected defeat to Syria, before beating the United Arab Emirates 1–0. In the quarter-finals, the team improved and beat Oman 2–1. In the semi-final, Tunisia collided with their rival Egypt, after a close match, Tunisia managed to score a goal in the 95th minute. The victory allows Tunisia to reach its first FIFA final in the country's history. In the final match, the Tunisian national team faced Algeria, but were beaten 0–2 in overtime. Despite the loss of the title, the team's performance has restored confidence to the supporters. In this context, they are congratulated by FIFA and named as the best supporters of the tournament.

#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Tunisia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Syria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Mauritania | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 | |

#### Final

| Tunisia | Algeria |
| GK | 22 | Mouez Hassen |
| RB | 20 | Mohamed Dräger |
| CB | 2 | Bilel Ifa |
| CB | 3 | Montassar Talbi |
| LB | 14 | Amine Ben Hamida | 43' | 101' |
| CM | 6 | Ghaylen Chaaleli |
| CM | 13 | Ferjani Sassi | 64' | 101' |
| RW | 7 | Youssef Msakni (c) | 39' |
| AM | 10 | Hannibal Mejbri | | 88' |
| LW | 23 | Naïm Sliti | | 110' |
| CF | 11 | Seifeddine Jaziri | 40' |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 15 | Ali Ben Romdhane | | 88' |
| DF | 12 | Ali Maâloul | | 101' |
| MF | 18 | Saad Bguir | | 101' |
| MF | 9 | Firas Ben Larbi | | 110' |
| Manager: ||
| Mondher Kebaier ||
| GK | 23 | Raïs M'Bolhi (c) |
| RB | 3 | Houcine Benayada | | 120+3' |
| CB | 4 | Djamel Benlamri |
| CB | 19 | Abdelkader Bedrane |
| LB | 20 | Ilyes Chetti | 13' |
| CM | 18 | Houssem Eddine Mrezigue | | 91' |
| CM | 14 | Sofiane Bendebka | 90+3' | 118' |
| RW | 7 | Tayeb Meziani | | 66' |
| AM | 11 | Yacine Brahimi | 120+4' |
| LW | 10 | Youcef Belaïli |
| CF | 9 | Baghdad Bounedjah | 40' |
| Substitutions: ||
| MF | 8 | Amir Sayoud | | 66' |
| MF | 17 | Zakaria Draoui | | 91' |
| DF | 5 | Mehdi Tahrat | | 118' |
| DF | 12 | Mohamed Amine Tougai | | 120+3' |
| Manager: ||
| Madjid Bougherra ||
| Man of the Match: Amir Sayoud (Algeria) Assistant referees: Rafael Foltyn (Germany) Christian Gittelmann (Germany) Fourth official: Matthew Conger (New Zealand) Reserve assistant referee: Tevita Makasini (Tonga) Video assistant referee: Christian Dingert (Germany) Assistant video assistant referees: Kevin Blom (Netherlands) Jun Mihara (Japan) Shaun Evans (Australia) | Match rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Maximum of twelve named substitutes Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time |

## Statistics
### Head to head

* – Positive balance
* – Neutral balance
* – Negative balance
| Versus | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Def | First match date | Last match date |
| Algeria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | –2 | 18 December 2021 | 18 December 2021 |
| Egypt | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 July 1988 | 15 December 2021 |
| Iraq | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 July 1988 | 9 July 1988 |
| Jordan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 4 April 1963 | 4 April 1963 |
| Kuwait | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 April 1963 | 6 April 1963 |
| Lebanon | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 7 April 1963 | 17 July 1988 |
| Mauritania | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 30 November 2021 | 30 November 2021 |
| Oman | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 10 December 2021 | 10 December 2021 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 July 1988 | 11 July 1988 |
| Syria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | –1 | 2 April 1963 | 3 December 2021 |
| United Arab Emirates | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 6 December 2021 | 6 December 2021 |
| | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 2 April 1963 | 18 December 2021 |

### Goalscorers

| Rank | Player | 1963 | 1988 | 2021 | Goals |
| 1 | Seifeddine Jaziri | | | 4 | 4 |
| 1 | Mongi Haddad | 4 | | | 4 |
| 2 | Mohamed Salah Jedidi | 3 | | | 3 |
| 3 | Firas Ben Larbi | | | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Youssef Msakni | | | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Hammadi Henia | 2 | | | 2 |
| 4 | Raouf Ben Amor (footballer) | 1 | | | 1 |
| 4 | Mohsen Habacha | 1 | | | 1 |
| 4 | Mohamed Ali Mahjoubi | | 1 | | 1 |
| 4 | Nabil Maâloul | | 1 | | 1 |
| 4 | Taoufik Mehedhebi | | 1 | | 1 |
| 4 | Amr El Solia (o.g.) | | | 1 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 11 | 3 | 9 | 23 |
– Best goalscorer(s) of the tournament – Best goalscorer(s) of the team

## Awards
### Top scorer

* 1963: Mongi Haddad (4 goals)
* 2021: Seifeddine Jaziri (4 goals)

### Team of the Tournament

* 2021: Seifeddine Jaziri, Youssef Msakni

### Man of the match

* 2021: Seifeddine Jaziri (vs. Mauritania; Group B)
* 2021: Hannibal Mejbri (vs. United Arab Emirates; Group B)
* 2021: Mohamed Dräger (vs. Oman; Quarter-finals)
* 2021: Hannibal Mejbri (vs. Egypt; Semi-finals)