Tunisia played its first match on 30 March 2008 against Libya in Tripoli during the 2009 African Nations Championship qualification which ended in a 1–1 draw in the first leg. The team failed to qualify for the inaugural edition in 2009 after being eliminated by Libya on penalties in the second leg. In 2010, the team played against Morocco at the 2011 African Nations Championship qualification. The team qualified for the African Nations Championship for the first time after a 1–1 draw in the first leg and a 2–2 draw in the second leg. In the finals in Sudan, Tunisia won the title in their first participation after presenting strong performances throughout the tournament and defeating Angola 3–0 in the final.
As the title holder, the team failed to qualify for the 2014 edition after losing to Morocco 0–1 on aggregate in the two qualifying matches. In 2015, Tunisia enter the 2016 African Nations Championship qualification. The qualifying system came through a group of three teams, in addition to Libya and Morocco. The team qualified for the finals by finishing second in the group after one win, one draw and two losses. In the finals, after topping the group with two draws and a resounding 5–0 victory over Niger, the team was eliminated in the quarter-finals after a surprising 2–1 defeat to Mali. Tunisia did not enter the 2018 African Nations Championship qualification due to the senior team's preparations and participation in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The team qualified for the 2020 edition after defeating Libya 1–0 and 2–1 in the two-legged qualifiers. However, they withdrew from the tournament due to scheduling constraints and the COVID-19 pandemic. This withdrawal resulted in the Tunisian Football Federation being fined $50,000 by CAF and banned from participating in the 2022 edition. On 9 October 2024, during the draw for the 2024 African Nations Championship qualification, CAF has allocated three places for the North African region, however Algeria and Egypt have declined to participate, it was decided that Libya, Morocco and Tunisia would automatically qualify for the final tournament. However, on 9 November Tunisia withdrew again from participation after meeting with representatives of Tunisian league clubs due to the pressure of the calendar.
History
2008: Beginnings
In March 2008, Tunisia entered the 2009 African Nations Championship qualification, competing with an under-23 team.[1] The team played a home-and-away match against Libya. On 30 March, Tunisia played its first match in Tripoli, which ended in a 1–1 draw with Youssef Mouihbi scoring the opening goal in the 48nd minute.[2] The second leg was played on 13 April in Tunis and ended in a 1–1 draw, with Houcine Jaber scoring Tunisia's goal in the 62nd minute. However, Libya qualified for the next round after winning on penalties 5–6.[3]
In early 2011, Tunisia experienced a revolution and the ignition of the Arab Spring, without preparation, the team has little chance of flying to Sudan.[9][10] On 7 February, Tunisia played their first match at the Port Sudan Stadium against Angola, which ended in a 1–1 draw, with Youssef Msakni scoring Tunisia's first goal in the finals.[11][12] Four days later, the team achieved its first chan victory against Rwanda 3–1 with goals from Oussama Darragi, Salema Kasdaoui and Zouheir Dhaouadi.[13][14] 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.[15][16] In the quarter-finals, Tunisia faced the DR Congo, the previous edition's champions. The team managed to win, with a goal by Dhawadi's in the 50th minute.[17][18] In 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".[19][20] 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,[21] with Rami Jridi stopping Hocine Metref's kick with his fist. Tunisia qualified for the final match to face Angola.[22][23]
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.[24]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.[25] Their one-two-one-two upfront kept mesmerizing the Angolan guardsmen but their finishing were poorly executed.[26] 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.[27] Dhaouadi and Kasdaoui finished the tournament as top scorers with 3 goals, and Dhaouadi was chosen as the best player.[28] Tunisia became the first Arab country to win the African Nations Championship title, adding the title to the African Cup of Nations.
During the finals in Rwanda, Hatem Missaoui led the team. Tunisia was drawn in Group C alongside Guinea, Nigeria and Niger.[38][39] 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.[40] 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.[41] In the third match against Niger, Tunisia achieved a big victory with a score of 5–0.[42]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.[43] 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.[44][45]
The following players were called up for the friendly matches against Egypt on 6 and 9 September 2025 respectively.[60] Caps and goals correct as of 9 September 2025, after the match against Egypt.
↑ Tunisia qualified against Libya after winning two matches in the qualifiers, back 1–0 and 1–2, and due to the delay in the start of the session from January to April, the candidacy was withdrawn from the Tunisian Football Federation on 20 December 2019 due to the pressure of the calendar after consulting with the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 clubs.[65]
↑ "رسمي: المنتخب التونسي لن يشارك في شان 2018"[Official: The Tunisian national team will not participate in CHAN 2018.]. UNAF: Union Nord Africaine de Football. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
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Tunisia 1–1 Libya 
Niger 0–5 Tunisia 
Egypt 3–0 Tunisia 
