Tunisia World Cup 2026 team guide

This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network , a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June. The plan Tunisia completed their qualification campaign without conceding once in 10 matches – a record shared with Côte d’Ivoire in Africa – but the faces in the dugout were constantly changing. Three different coaches led the team on the road to this World Cup: Jalel Kadri, Montasser Louhichi and Sami Trabelsi. Kadri, now managing Al-Hazem in Saudi Arabia, was Tunisia’s head coach during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Trabelsi was later replaced by the current manager, Sabri Lamouchi, shortly after Tunisia were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations in January. “I am Tunisian, my roots are Tunisian, and I am happy to be here,” Lamouchi said during his first press conference. Why is this significant? Because in 1993, Lamouchi was close to representing Tunisia rather than France. He came, took part in the warm-up, but did not come off the bench – and never returned afterwards. The versions differ between Lamouchi and Youssef Zouaoui, the manager at that time, but the outcome remained the same: Lamouchi never wore the Tunisia shirt. It remains a painful memory that supporters have never forgotten. …