Skhiri
Tunisia have been to six World Cups and have never advanced beyond the group stage. Not once. In 2022, they beat France 1-0 — the reigning world champions — and still went home. Australia won their match on the same day and Tunisia were eliminated. That result, that afternoon in Al Rayyan, remains both the highest point and the cruelest summary of Tunisian football: capable of beating anyone, unable to translate it into progress.
Sabri Lamouchi, appointed in January 2026 after Sami Trabelsi was sacked following a penalty shootout elimination by Mali at AFCON, named his 26 on May 15. The squad he has built is younger, leaner, and more European than the one that went to Qatar. Only six players from the 2022 World Cup remain. The rest is a generational shift — players in their early twenties, drawn from the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the Swiss Super League, and the Scottish Premiership.
The headline statistic from qualifying is extraordinary: Tunisia did not concede a single goal across their entire World Cup qualifying campaign. Ten matches, 28 points, zero goals conceded. They topped their CAF group ahead of Namibia, Liberia, Malawi, Equatorial Guinea, and São Tomé and Príncipe, sealing qualification on September 8, 2025 with two matches still to play.
The squad
Goalkeepers: Aymen Dahmen (CS Sfaxien), Sabri Ben Hessen (Étoile du Sahel), Abdelmouhib Chamakh (Club Africain)
Defenders: Montassar Talbi (Lorient), Dylan Bronn (Servette), Omar Rekik (Maribor), Yan Valery (Young Boys), Ali Abdi (Nice), Moataz Nafati (IFK Norrköping), Raed Chikhaoui (US Monastir), Adem Arous (Kasımpaşa), Mohamed Amine Ben Hamida (Espérance de Tunis)
Midfielders: Ellyes Skhiri (Eintracht Frankfurt), Hannibal Mejbri (Burnley), Anis Ben Slimane (Norwich City), Rani Khedira (Union Berlin), Mohamed Hadj Mahmoud (Lugano), Mortadha Ben Ouanes (Kasımpaşa)
Forwards: Elias Achouri (Copenhagen), Ismaël Gharbi (Augsburg), Khalil Ayari (PSG), Sebastian Tounekti (Celtic), Firas Chaouat (Club Africain), Elias Saad (Hannover 96), Hazem Mastouri (Dynamo Makhachkala), Rayan Elloumi (Vancouver Whitecaps)
What it tells you
Ellyes Skhiri of Eintracht Frankfurt is the centerpiece — a defensive midfielder with ball recovery instincts, tactical intelligence, and a long-range shot that makes him a constant threat from deep. His partnership with Hannibal Mejbri, now at Burnley after leaving Manchester United and going to his second consecutive World Cup, gives Tunisia a midfield that can compete with anyone in Group F.
Rani Khedira of Union Berlin adds a layer of narrative. His older brother Sami won the World Cup with Germany in 2014. With Rani's inclusion for Tunisia, the Khedira brothers join the Boatengs as siblings who have played in World Cups for different national teams.
Khalil Ayari of PSG is the squad's most exciting young talent at 21. Sebastian Tounekti of Celtic, Elias Achouri of Copenhagen, and Elias Saad of Hannover 96 provide pace and directness from the flanks. Firas Chaouat of Club Africain is the only domestic-league outfield player in the squad.
The biggest talking point is who is not here. Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane, Tunisia's top scorer in qualifying, was left out. He scored the 94th-minute winner against Equatorial Guinea that officially sealed Tunisia's World Cup place and was not selected. Lamouchi's decision is a statement of intent: form and system fit over individual sentiment.
The attack is the area where Tunisia need the most improvement. Their qualifying opponents were weak and the zero-goals-conceded record, while remarkable, came against limited opposition. Against the Netherlands, Japan, and Sweden, the challenge will be different: not whether Tunisia can defend — they can — but whether they can score enough to earn the results that have always eluded them at this stage.
Seven World Cups. Zero knockout-stage appearances. They have beaten France. They have never lost a qualifying campaign to a goal. The question, as it always is for Tunisia, is whether it will finally be enough.
Tunisia are in Group F alongside the Netherlands, Japan, and Sweden. They open against Sweden on June 14 at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, face Japan on June 20 at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, and conclude against the Netherlands on June 25 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.