Doha: A brilliant goal from Vahbi Khajri was enough to give Carthage Eagles a stunning 1-0 win over defending champions France on Wednesday, but it was not enough to send the team into the latter stages of their maiden World Cup. Time.
While the win, their third overall in the competition and first against European opposition, was something to celebrate, Australia’s win over Denmark by the same scoreline meant Tunisia were going home.
He was always a threat. Tunisia, bottom of the group before kickoff with just one point, needed nothing less than a win to finally have a chance of making it to the later stages, at the sixth time of asking.
Even victory was not going to guarantee progress, however, as the group still had other games to contend with.
An Australian win would send the Socceroos through. At the same time Tunisia needed a win, wanting to draw the other two. The promised land always seemed far away.
Coach Jalel Qadri promised he would resign if the team failed to make progress, but he didn’t have to think long to learn that his team’s dreams were dashed by a lack of firepower.
This was evident during the competition. The opening 0–0 draw with Denmark was a good, struggling performance against the 10th ranked team in the world. This provided a solid platform for the second and most winnable game against Australia.
Falling behind a fine header from Micheal Duque midway through the first half, Tunisia were unable to penetrate the industrious Socceroos’ defence, and while the performance was good, the final third lacked bite.
Failure to score ultimately cost Tunisia their dream as it meant their fate was in the hands of others.
The effort was decidedly against France. After the disappointment of Saturday’s defeat, it was a revived version of Tunisia that had tired Les Bleus from the outset.
A free-kick in the eighth minute was swung by Khajri and directed home acrobatically by Nader Ghandari, only for the player to be judged correctly.
Yet it was encouraging for the North Africans and a warning for the French, who had already made nine changes from their 2–1 win over Denmark.
Tunisia continued to do most of the scoring in the second half at the Education City Stadium. The North Africans had won their last two games in the World Cup but never stopped working hard in an attempt to make it three.
The goal was duly reached just before the hour thanks to Khajri, who ran over a stoic French defense before hitting the ball past stand-in goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.
It was the last act of the game for the exhausted star, who was then ejected, but had given his team something to defend against.
And yet, within moments, came the news that Australia had taken the lead against Denmark and secured second place in the group.
If that wasn’t enough, Kylian Mbappé entered the fray for France and started running at the tiring Tunisian defence.
Tunisia held on despite a late strike from Antoine Griezmann which was ruled out by VAR.
But by the time it was chalked up, Australia had moved on and Tunisia had refused.
The wait for the knockout stages will continue till at least 2026, but if a goalscorer is found in the meantime, the country could finally achieve the promised destination.