# 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. 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.

## History
### 2008: Beginnings

Tunisia's national team entered the 2009 African Nations Championship qualification, 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. 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, with Youssef Msakni scoring Tunisia's first goal in the finals. Four days later, the team achieved its first victory against Rwanda 3–1 with goals from Oussama Darragi, Salema Kasdaoui and Zouheir Dhaouadi. The team achieved another victory against Senegal, with a score of 2–0, with goals from Kasdaoui and Khaled Korbi, to qualify for the quarter-finals. In the quarter-finals, Tunisia faced last edition title holder DR Congo. The team managed to win, with a goal by Dhawadi's in the 50th minute. 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". 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, with Rami Jridi stopping Hocine Metref's kick with his fist. 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. 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.
Their one-two-one-two upfront kept mesmerizing the Angolan guardsmen but their finishing were poorly executed. 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. Dhaouadi and Kasdaoui finished the tournament as top scorers with 3 goals, and Dhaouadi was chosen as the best player.

### 2013–2016: Second appearance and decline

In July 2013, placed under the direction of Nabil Maâloul, the team entered the 2014 African Nations Championship qualification, facing Morocco home and away. Tunisia were defeated 1–0 in Sousse and drew 0–0 in Tangier, failing to qualify for the finals. 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, while it lost against Libya 0–1. The third and fourth days were played in October in Radès. The team won against Libya 1–0 and lost against Morocco 2–3. Tunisia qualified for the finals with a poor performance, finishing second in the group with a win, a draw and two defeats.
During the finals in Rwanda, Hatem Missaoui led the team. Tunisia was drawn in Group C alongside Guinea, Nigeria and Niger. 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. 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. In the third match against Niger, Tunisia achieved a big victory with a score of 5–0. 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. 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.

### 2016–present: Total absence

On 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. 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. However, on 20 December 2019, the Tunisian Football Federation withdrew from the tournament due to the intensity of the matches after the teams agreed. 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. The team didn't enter to the 2022 African Nations Championship qualification.

#### Possible return

On 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, after Egypt and previous hosts Algeria withdrawing. On 5 November, the Federation confirmed Tunisia's participation in the finals.

## Managerial history

| Manager | Nat | From | To | Pld | W | D | L | Tournaments |
| Mondher Kebaier | | 2008 | 2008 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | CHAN 2009 – Failed to qualify |
| Sami Trabelsi | | 2010 | 2013 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | CHAN 2011 – Champions |
| Nabil Maâloul | | 2013 | 2013 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | CHAN 2014 – Failed to qualify |
| Henryk Kasperczak | | 2015 | 2015 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | CHAN 2016 – Quarterfinals |
| Hatem Missaoui | | 2016 | 2016 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — |
| Mondher Kebaier (2) | | 2019 | 2019 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | CHAN 2020 – Withdrew after qualifying |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 22 | 8 | 10 | 4 | — |

## Players
### Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2020 African Nations Championship qualification matches against Libya on 21 September and 20 October 2019.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
| 16 | 1GK | Ghaith Yeferni | (1998-05-20) 20 May 1998 (age 26) | 0 | 0 | US Ben Guerdane |
| 22 | 1GK | Atef Dkhili | (1990-04-04) 4 April 1990 (age 34) | 0 | 0 | Club Africain |
| 1 | 1GK | Moez Ben Cherifia | (1991-06-24) 24 June 1991 (age 33) | 20 | 0 | ES Tunis |
| 40 | 1GK | Aymen Dahmen | (1997-01-28) 28 January 1997 (age 27) | 0 | 0 | CS Sfaxien |
| 25 | 2DF | Ghazi Abderrazzak | (1986-10-16) 16 October 1986 (age 38) | 0 | 0 | US Ben Guerdane |
| 14 | 2DF | Zied Boughattas | (1990-12-05) 5 December 1990 (age 34) | 10 | 0 | ES Sahel |
| 4 | 2DF | Hani Amamou | (1997-09-16) 16 September 1997 (age 27) | 0 | 0 | CS Sfaxien |
| 27 | 2DF | Hamza Mathlouthi | (1992-07-25) 25 July 1992 (age 32) | 20 | 0 | CS Sfaxien |
| 19 | 2DF | Wajdi Kechrida | (1995-11-05) 5 November 1995 (age 29) | 8 | 0 | ES Sahel |
| 5 | 2DF | Chamseddine Dhaouadi | (1987-01-15) 15 January 1987 (age 37) | 11 | 0 | ES Tunis |
| 3 | 2DF | Saddam Ben Aziza | (1991-02-08) 8 February 1991 (age 33) | 1 | 0 | ES Sahel |
| 17 | 2DF | Mortadha Ben Ouanes | (1994-07-02) 2 July 1994 (age 30) | 1 | 0 | ES Sahel |
| 15 | 3MF | Ahmed Khalil | (1994-12-21) 21 December 1994 (age 30) | 5 | 0 | Club Africain |
| 7 | 3MF | Firas Ben Larbi | (1996-05-27) 27 May 1996 (age 28) | 1 | 0 | ES Sahel |
| 26 | 3MF | Mohamed Ali Moncer | (1991-04-28) 28 April 1991 (age 33) | 18 | 3 | CS Sfaxien |
| 2 | 3MF | Malek Baayou | (1999-04-29) 29 April 1999 (age 25) | 1 | 0 | ES Sahel |
| 6 | 3MF | Fedi Ben Choug | (1995-03-12) 12 March 1995 (age 29) | 0 | 0 | ES Sahel |
| 18 | 3MF | Hamza Jelassi | (1991-09-29) 29 September 1991 (age 33) | 1 | 0 | CS Sfaxien |
| 23 | 3MF | Elyès Jlassi | (1994-02-07) 7 February 1994 (age 30) | 0 | 0 | US Monastir |
| 20 | 4FW | Houssem Habbassi | (1996-01-01) 1 January 1996 (age 29) | 0 | 0 | CA Bizertin |
| 21 | 4FW | Wajdi Sehli | (1997-04-17) 17 April 1997 (age 27) | 0 | 0 | Club Africain |
| 10 | 4FW | Alaeddine Marzouki | (1990-01-03) 3 January 1990 (age 35) | 1 | 0 | CS Sfaxien |
| 9 | 4FW | Anice Badri | (1990-09-18) 18 September 1990 (age 34) | 24 | 6 | ES Tunis |
| 11 | 4FW | Taha Yassine Khenissi | (1992-01-06) 6 January 1992 (age 33) | 40 | 8 | ES Tunis |
| 8 | 4FW | Firas Chaouat | (1996-05-08) 8 May 1996 (age 28) | 10 | 2 | CS Sfaxien |

## Records
### African Nations Championship

| African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship qualification record | African Nations Championship qualification record | African Nations Championship qualification record | African Nations Championship qualification record | African Nations Championship qualification record | African Nations Championship qualification record | African Nations Championship qualification record |
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA | Squad | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Ref. |
| 2009 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2011 | Champions | 1st | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 3 | Squad | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
| 2014 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2016 | Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 5 | Squad | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | |
| 2018 | 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 |
| 2020 | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2022 | 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 |
| 2024 | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Withdrew after qualifying | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically | Qualified automatically |
| Total | Champions | 2/7 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 8 | — | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 12 | — |

## Results
### All-time results

| N° | Date | Location | Against | Score | Occasion | Goalscorers |
| 1 | 30 March 2008 | Tripoli | Libya | 1–1 | 2009 CHAN Q | Mouihbi ?' |
| 2 | 13 April 2008 | Tunis | Libya | 1–1 (5–6 p) | 2009 CHAN Q | Mosrati ?' |
| 3 | 23 May 2010 | Sousse | Morocco | 1–1 | 2011 CHAN Q | Jemal ?' |
| 4 | 5 June 2010 | Casablanca | Morocco | 2–2 | 2011 CHAN Q | Khalifa 75', Meriah 83' (pen.) |
| 5 | 7 February 2011 | Port Sudan | Angola | 1–1 | 2011 CHAN | Msakni 7' |
| 6 | 11 February 2011 | Port Sudan | Rwanda | 3–1 | 2011 CHAN | Darragi 21' Kasdaoui 32' Dhaouadi 44' |
| 7 | 15 February 2011 | Port Sudan | Senegal | 2–0 | 2011 CHAN | Kasdaoui 45' Korbi 88' |
| 8 | 19 February 2011 | Khartoum | DR Congo | 1–0 | 2011 CHAN | Dhaouadi 50' |
| 9 | 22 February 2011 | Khartoum | Algeria | 1–1 (5–3 p) | 2011 CHAN | Kasdaoui 18' |
| 10 | 25 February 2011 | Omdurman | Angola | 3–0 | 2011 CHAN | Traoui 47' Dhaouadi 73' Darragi 80' |
| 11 | 6 July 2013 | Sousse | Morocco | 0–1 | 2014 CHAN Q | — |
| 12 | 13 July 2013 | Tanjier | Morocco | 0–0 | 2014 CHAN Q | — |
| 13 | 15 June 2015 | Casablanca | Morocco | 1–1 | 2016 CHAN Q | Aouadhi 40' |
| 14 | 18 June 2015 | Casablanca | Libya | 0–1 | 2016 CHAN Q | — |
| 15 | 18 October 2015 | Radès | Libya | 1–0 | 2016 CHAN Q | Bguir 75' |
| 16 | 26 October 2015 | Radès | Morocco | 2–3 | 2016 CHAN Q | Machani 28' Bguir 80' |
| 17 | 18 January 2016 | Kigali | Guinea | 2–2 | 2016 CHAN | Akaichi 33', 51' |
| 18 | 22 January 2016 | Kigali | Nigeria | 1–1 | 2016 CHAN | Akaichi 70' |
| 19 | 26 January 2016 | Kigali | Niger | 5–0 | 2016 CHAN | Bguir 5', 39' Akaichi 79' Ben Amor 80' Essifi 90+2' |
| 20 | 31 January 2016 | Kigali | Mali | 1–2 | 2016 CHAN | Moncer 14' |
| 21 | 21 September 2019 | Radès | Libya | 1–0 | 2020 CHAN Q | Badri 55' |
| 22 | 20 October 2019 | Salé | Libya | 2–1 | 2020 CHAN Q | Badri 13', 89' |

## Results and fixtures

The team has not played a match since 20 October 2019.

### 2019
## Records
### All−time record

The list shown below shows the Tunisia national football team all−time international record against opposing nations.

#### Key

Tunisia national football team head-to-head records :
| Against | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Confederation |
| Algeria | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | CAF |
| Angola | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | CAF |
| DR Congo | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | CAF |
| Guinea | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | CAF |
| Libya | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | CAF |
| Mali | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | –1 | CAF |
| Morocco | 6 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 | –2 | CAF |
| Niger | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | CAF |
| Nigeria | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | CAF |
| Rwanda | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | CAF |
| Senegal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | CAF |
| Total | 22 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 32 | 20 | +8 | — |
| Last match updated was against Libya on 20 October 2019. |||||||||