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Will Tunisia replicate their qualifying form in the World Cup?

9 May 2018, 5:05 PM |

Lungelo Ngcamu | @SABCNews

This will be their fifth appearance in the World Cup, and their last presence was in 2006 in Germany where they were dumped out of the competition in round 32.

Image: SABC

This will be their fifth appearance in the World Cup, and their last presence was in 2006 in Germany where they were dumped out of the competition in round 32.

Returning to the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament in Russia, Tunisia will be trying to survive group stages for the first time in the competition history.

The North Africa nation will be battling against Panama, England and Belgium in Group G.

Tunisia booked a ticket to Russia after topping the group that featured Libya, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Guinea.

The Tunisians had a fine form winning five matches and playing one into a 0-all draw against Libya, which saw them topping the group by 14 points against 13 of DRC.

Tunisia has participated in the tournament in four occasions. The Eagles of Carthage’s first World Cup came in 1978 held in Argentina. In that year, they managed to record a 3-1 victory against Mexico, whilst played a 0-all with then reigning champions West Germany, currently known as Germany and succumbed 1-0 to Poland.

Tunisia made a comeback in the World Cup again 20 years later in France, where they faced Colombia, England and Romania.

Under the guidance of then Coach Adel Sellimi, the team was beaten 2-0 by England, and also lost 1-0 to Colombia. They collected a single point in a 1-all draw against Romania to end their journey in group stages.

In 2002, the Eagles of Carthage took part in South Korea and Japan World Cup where they recorded 2-0 losses to co-hosting nation Japan, and Russia, whilst played 0-0 draw against Belgium, meaning they were knocked out in the group stages.

This will be their fifth appearance in the World Cup, and their last presence was in 2006 in Germany where they were dumped out of the competition in round 32.

Tunisia drew their opening encounter against Saudi Arabia 2–2, but lost their second match to Spain 3-1 and lost last group tie to Ukraine with a 1-0 ending run in the competition.

Nabil Maâloul’s charges have won their recent friendly matches against Iran and Costa Rica, which keeps the club in good shape and mentally strong going to the World Cup.

Saîf-Eddine Khaoui (Olympique de Marseille), Ellyes Skhiri (Montpellier HSC, France), Yohan Benalouane (Leicester City), and Youssef Msakni who plays for Al-Duhail in Qatar will be players to watch to help Tunisia to advance to the next round.