Zéro pointé, série de défaites, record de buts encaissés... les chiffres du naufrage de la Tunisie, humiliée lors de cette Coupe du monde 2026
Already eliminated after their first two defeats, Tunisia concluded their disastrous 2026 World Cup campaign with another loss on Thursday night against the Netherlands (3-1). Exiting unceremoniously, the Eagles of Carthage have recorded the worst tournament in their history and broken some unfortunate records.
The ordeal is finally over for Tunisia. After the humiliating 5-1 defeat against Sweden in their opening match, the Eagles of Carthage clung to a slim hope of a comeback, and even qualification, with the arrival of Hervé Renard to replace Sabri Lamouchi, who was sacked after that first game. It was not to be. Heavily defeated by Japan (4-0), the Tunisians bid farewell to the Round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup before even their final Group F match against the Netherlands. A match that, in any case, would have changed nothing: the Oranje won 3-1 on Thursday night to complete Tunisia's demise.
With three defeats and therefore no points, this is the first time (in seven appearances) that Tunisia has failed to score in the World Cup group stage. The Eagles of Carthage even have the worst goal difference in the tournament (-10), behind nations like Qatar, Curaçao, and Uzbekistan. Only the Asian nation (-7) or possibly Iraq (-6), who face DR Congo and Senegal respectively in their third match, can still finish the group stage with a worse goal difference.
Many goals conceded, and quickly
Authors of the worst tournament in their history, the Eagles of Carthage certainly shone in one area: the number of unfortunate records they broke. Even before facing the Netherlands, Tunisia had become the first African nation to concede five goals in their opening World Cup match, and the first African nation to concede four goals in each of their first two World Cup matches.
"The 2026 World Cup has turned into a nightmare for Tunisia," reported the Tunisian media outlet La Presse after the crushing defeat against Japan, which meant elimination. "Sad, frustrating and distressing," "dramatic situation," "immense disappointment," were among the comments found in the Tunisian media.
The fiasco continued to the very end with another defeat against the Netherlands, during which further records were broken. After conceding the fastest goal in their history against Japan in the 4th minute, Tunisia did even worse against the Oranje, conceding an own goal in the 3rd minute. Moments later, Aymen Dahmen's net rippled again (7th minute): conceding two goals in the first 10 minutes of a major tournament match is unprecedented in the history of the Eagles of Carthage.
Is the worst losing streak coming soon?
Another first in their history: conceding at least three goals in four consecutive matches across all competitions. Tunisia had indeed suffered a heavy defeat against Belgium (5-0) in their final warm-up match before the World Cup. By losing to the Netherlands, the Tunisians also recorded five consecutive defeats (they had lost to Austria in their penultimate warm-up match) across all competitions for the first time since August-September 1987 (when the streak ended at five).
Appointed in haste to revitalize the national team, Hervé Renard is also nearing a dismal personal record. The French coach has now lost 75% of his World Cup matches in charge (6 out of 8), having managed Morocco in 2018 and Saudi Arabia in 2022. Only Bolilo Gomez has a worse record among coaches with at least as many matches in the competition's history (78%, 7 losses in 9 games).
"I think that, quite simply, we weren't up to the task at this event, in a difficult group with Japan, Sweden, and the Netherlands. We needed to come to this World Cup much better prepared, much stronger. That wasn't the case. That's the conclusion we can draw tonight. Later, there will be a more opportune moment to properly analyze and make decisions for the future," he declared at the press conference following this fiasco. It now remains to be seen what will happen next, for him and Tunisia.
Commentaires (11)
Participer à la Discussion
Règles de la communauté
💡 Astuce : Utilisez des emojis depuis votre téléphone ou le module emoji ci-dessous. Cliquez sur GIF pour ajouter un GIF animé. Collez un lien X/Twitter, TikTok ou Instagram pour l'afficher automatiquement.
Se connecter
Commentez avec votre profil, votre photo, et soyez averti des réponses.