August 3, 2025
Fatbear made his first foray into football in Tunisia with the final of the 2024/25 Super Cup, the curtain raiser to the new season.
As Esperance won both the league and cup titles in 2024/25 there didn’t appear to be an obvious opponent for them to play in the Super Cup. However, the Tunisian FA decided that the league runner-up, US Monastir, and cup runner-up, Stade Tunisien, would have a play-off match for the right to play Esperance. In a match played on neutral territory in Sfax, Stade Tunisien ran out 2-0 winners, thanks to a penalty from Rwandan midfielder Bonheur Mugisha ( 7 caps ) and a sweeping left footed finish from 20 year-old Under 20 forward Khalil Ayari, both in the first half.
Today’s match was being held at the 60,000 capacity Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, which is home to the National Team, as well as Esperance and fellow Tunis based side Club Africain. The stadium is situated in the southern suburb of Rades, and is also known as the Rades Olympic Stadium.
These two sides also met in the 2023/24 Super Cup, when Esperance ran out 2-0 winners, with the goals being scored by South African winger Elias Mokwana ( 9 caps ) and ex-Brest and Ajaccio Algerian winger Youcef Belaili ( 57 caps )
Tunisia National Team
Tunisia are currently 49th in the FIFA World Rankings, having achieved a high of 14th in 2017.
They have qualified on 6 occasions for the World Cup Finals, in 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018 and 2022 but are yet to get past the group stages.
In 1978, Mexico were beaten 3-1 in their opening match but a 0-1 loss to Poland left Tunisia needing to beat West Germany in the final group game, but a 0-0 draw saw them eliminated in third place.
In each of the three tournaments between 1998 and 2006 Tunisia were only able to obtain one draw each time. Fatbear was present in Marseille in 1998 as goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes gave England a 2-0 victory, and Tunisia’s 1-1 draw with Romania came after the Tunisians had already been eliminated, having lost 0-1 to Colombia in their second game.
In 2002, Tunisia managed a 1-1 draw with Belgium but 0-2 losses to Russia and host nation Japan saw them return home early, whilst in 2006 an opening 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia was followed by defeats to Spain ( 1-3 ) and Ukraine ( 0-1 ).
Tunisia again faced England in 2018 and looked to be holding on for a 1-1 draw in Volvograd until Harry Kane grabbed in his second goal of the game, in the 91st minute, to give Gareth Southgate’s side a narrow win. Tunisia were then thrashed 2-5 by Belgium, before a consolation 2-1 victory over Panama.
Tunisia began their 2022 campaign with a creditable 0-0 draw with Denmark but a 0-1 reverse to Australia was to prove fatal. Despite a surprise 1-0 win over France, where ex-Sunderland attacking midfielder Wahbi Khazri ( 74 caps ) scored the only goal, Tunisia again finished third in their group.
Tunisia look to be on course to reach the 2026 finals, currently leading their qualification group with a 5-1-0 record to be 4 points clear of Namibia with four more games to be played. The group winners automatically qualify, whilst the runner-up might go into the complicated play-offs. Victories had been registered at home against Equatorial Guinea ( 1-0 ), Malawi ( 2-0 ) and Sao Tome and Principe ( 4-0 ) and away in Liberia ( 1-0 ) and Malawi ( 1-0 ). The only dropped points came in 0-0 against their nearest rivals Namibia, and Tunisia were yet to concede a goal in the group.
Tunisia have been regulars in the Africa Cup of Nations Finals, but their only triumph came in 2004 when they were the host nation. They were runners-up in 1965, when again they were the hosts, and finished third in 1963. Three fourth place finishes had been achieved, the most recent in 2019.
In addition to Khazri, other notable Tunisians to have played in England include ex-Manchester City right-back Hatem Trabelsi ( 66 caps ), ex-Bolton Wanderers, Birmingham City and Southampton centre-back Radhi Jaïdi ( record cap holder with 105 caps ) , ex-Leicester City and Nottingham Forest centre-back Yohan Benalouane ( 5 caps ) and Sheffield Wednesday and ex-Southampton right-back Yan Valery ( 10 caps ).
Midfielder Anis Ben Slimane ( 34 caps ) is currently with Norwich City, having previously played for Sheffield United, whilst forward Manchester United starlet Hannibal Mejbri ( 33 caps ) is now with Burnley after loan spells with Birmingham City and Sevilla.
Tunisian League
The Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 currently consists of 16 teams who play each other twice for a 30-game season. The new season with be 100th of top tier football in Tunisia with Esperance the record winners with 34 titles. including 8 of the last 9.
Club Africain are next with 13 titles, followed by Etoile du Sahel with 11, including the 2022/23 title. 18 sides in total have won the Tunisian league although 9 of them are now defunct. Stade Tunisien have four titles to their name, the last of which was in 1964/65.
Tunisia are the 5th best ranked country in the CAF rankings for club football, which entitles two sides to play in the CAF Champions League and two sides in the CAF Confederations Cup. Esperance and US Monastir will play in this season’s CAF CL, whilst third placed Etoile du Sahel and cup runners-up Stade Tunisien will play in the Confederations Cup.
Esperance Sportive de Tunis
Esperance were found in 1919 and were an exclusively Muslim club, when other sides at the time included French, Italian or Jewish players. In addition to their 34 titles, they have also won the Tunisian Cup 16 times. They are ranked the 3rd best side in Africa and have won the CAF Champions League on 4 occasions, the last of which was in 2019. They were runners up in 2024 and reached the quarter finals in the 2025 edition of the competition.
Esperance have participated four times in the FIFA Club World Cup, including this year’s expanded version, where they lost 0-3 to Flamingo, beat Los Angeles FC 1-0 and lost 0-3 to Chelsea.
As mentioned, home is currently the 60,000 capacity Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, although Esperance previously played at the 45,000 Stade El Manzah, which is in need of renovation. Their usual colours are red and yellow strips with black shorts and they apparently have a number of nicknames, including Taraji, The Beast of Africa, The Elder of Tunisian Clubs, The Red and Yellow, and The Blood and Gold.
Esperance Squad
In addition to Mokwana and Belaili, other foreigners in the Esperance squad included Algerian centre-back Mohamad Tougai ( 22 caps ), Brazilian attacking midfielder Yan Sasse, who had previously played for Wellington Phoenix and Turkish side Caykur Rizespor, Nigerian midfielder Onuche Ogbelu, and Ivorian midfielder Abdramane Konate. Brazilian striker Rodrigo Rodrigues was the joint leading scorer in the league in 2023/24 whilst Mauritania defender Ibrahima Keita ( 25 caps ) had just joined from Congo side TP Mazembe. Forward Aboubacar Diakite was from Mali.
Esperance had a number of players who had represented the national side. Keeper Bechir Ben Said had 21 caps, captain and centre-back Yassine Meriah ( 85 caps ) had played for Olympiakos, Caykur Rizespor and UAE side Al Ain, defender Mohamad Ben Hamida ( 6 caps ) and midfielder Houssem Tka ( 1 cap ).
London born left-back Ayman Ben Mohamad ( 14 caps ), who played in the League of Ireland for UCD, Longford Town and Bohemians left Esperance following the World Club Championship.
Stade Tunisien
Stade Tunisien were founded in 1948 and play at the 11,000 capacity Hedi Enneifer Stadium in the western suburb of Tunis of Le Bardo. In addition to the 4 league titles, Stade have won the Tunisian Cup on 7 occasions, most recently in 2023/24, and were runners-up last season.
Stade’s normal kit is green and red striped shirts with green shorts and red socks, and their nickname is either Baklawa or The Bey Team. The later is a legacy of the patronage of Lamine Bey, the last Bey of Tunis and the only King of Tunisia.
Last season, Stade Tunisien finished 6th in the table, 17 points behind champions Esperance and scored only 29 goals in 30 league matches. They had actually led the table after round 16, having lost just twice, but their form disintegrated with just 3 victories in the final 14 games.
Stade reached the final of the Tunisian Cup but were defeated 0-1 by Esperance in June. In the two league meetings between the two clubs, Stade let slip a 2-0 lead at half-time to draw 2-2 at Esperance early in the season, but slumped to a 0-1 loss in the return home fixture.
Stade Tunisien Squad
The captain of Stade Tunisien is centre-back Marouane Sahraoui, who was called up to the most recent national squad but is yet to make his international debut, which was also the case for goalkeeper Nourrad Farhati and forward Ayari.
The overseas players in the squad, in addition to Mugisha, were Senegalese midfielder Amath Ndaw and Ivorian defensive midfielder Toure, who had played in Georgia for Samgurali
Matchday Information
The weather at the 18.15 local time kick-off was sunny with a moderate breeze, and 29 degrees.
Bet365 made Esperance 4/5 favourites, with Stade Tunisien at 4/1 and the draw at 9/5.
The match was streamed live on the rtfofficelle YouTube Channel, the official channel of the Tunisian Football Federation.
Esperance made five changes to the side that started their last match against Chelsea. Ammanallah Memmiche ( 2 caps ) replaced Ben Said in goal, Keita was in at right-back for Ben Ali, who dropped to the bench, whilst Mohamed Derbali ( 1 cap ), Younes Rached and Belaili came in for Yan Sasse, Ogbelu and Mokwana.
Stade Tunisien made one change for the side that started against US Monastir, as Hedi Khalfa replaced Wael Ouerghemmi at right-back
Esperance were in their usual red and yellow shirts, but Stade Tunisien were in a change kit of all white but their gold numbers were not easy to make out.
Match Report
Stade Tunisien kicked off and quickly played a long ball forward, but conceded a foul on the edge of the Esperance area.
Derbali was then chopped down by Mohamed Khemissi near the Stade corner flag. Meriah met the free-kick beyond far post but his header looped up for an easy save for the Stade keeper, who took a quick throw, but Stade were caught offside as they counterattacked.
In the third minute Sahraoui made a good sliding tackle to deny Keita and to give the first corner of the game to Esperance.
It was a fast start to the game, and the fouls were clocking up as the tackles flew in. Konate made a strong run at the Stade Tunisien defence before laying off to Achref Jabri, but his left footed shot was blocked and ball rolled through to the keeper.
With 10 minutes played Keita was chopped down midway inside the Stade half. Belaili took a quick free-kick for Jabri to run onto and the Esperance forward hit the deck after a slight shirt pull by Stade centre-back Adem Arous. However, Jabri had gone down far too easily and the referee ignore the appeals for a penalty.
Esperance really ought to have opened the scoring a minute later. Jabri played a dangerous ball from the right-hand byline, but Arous was able to get a touch to divert the ball away from Derbali. However, the on-rushing Konate should have buried the chance from 6 yards but somehow managed to put the ball wide of the far post.
Play was held up for a few minutes as Sahraoui needed treatment after a foul by Khalil Guenichi and when play resumed Stade’s Mohamed Smaali made a good run into the Esperance and a clever back-heel created space for Amir Jaouadi, but the left-back could only shoot wide under pressure. This was followed up shortly after with another nice move for Stade but Jaouadi could only shoot weakly straight at the Esperance keeper
In the 27th minute Jabri made a break down the right wing, but his low ball was smartly put out for corner by Arous.
The visitors best chance of the game to date came on the half hour mark. Khalfa went on the overlap and played a pull-back into the Esperance area where Mugisha dummied to set-up Toure, but with plenty of time to pick his slot, the Ivorian could only shoot over the bar from edge of area.
Smaali then played a lovely cross field ball to Ayari, who showed good trickery to make half a yard inside the Esperance area, but no foul was awarded as he went to ground after being challenged.
The pivotal moment of the game arrived in the 36th minute. Stade keeper Farhati carelessly passed straight to Belaili, who shot from the edge of the area past the keeper, but Sahraoui was covering on the line and make a block. Unfortunately for the Stade captain the ball rebounded onto his arm after which the clearance was made, but the referee immediately awarded a penalty for the handball.
Under the instructions given to referees in England for the new season, instances of the ball hitting the arm after a player had played the ball are not to considered as handball. Either today’s referee had not received a similar memo, or referees in Tunisia are playing to different interpretations to referees in England this season.
The unlucky Sahraoui was shown the yellow card, and Belaili stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way from the spot, to make it 1-0 with 38 minutes on the clock.
With half-time approaching, Jabri again got to the byline but his pull back was well saved by the diving keeper. The last action of the half was a yellow card to Guenichi for a shirt-pull on Ayari.
Stade Tunisien started the second period strongly, and almost immediately, Keita brought down Jaouadi just outside the Esperance area. The free-kick was played across the 18-yard line but a left footed shot blocked by the Esperance defence.
Stade were enjoying most of the possession but were struggling to make any impression. A corner was won in the 54th minute and after it was headed away, Stade put the ball back into the Esperance area, where two shots were blocked by defenders.
In an Esperance counterattack, Belaili went down inside the Stade area after a challenge from Khemissi, but the linesman’s flag was raised for offside to end the danger.
Stade’s Toure entered the referee’s notebook after pulling back Konate, but then in the 64th minute Jaouadi went down inside the Esperance area after a clumsy challenge by Haythem Dhaou. It looked a penalty, but the referee wasn’t convinced, and play continued.
Esperance’s Ben Hamida was the next to see yellow after a foul on Ayari near the byline. Ayari took the free-kick, which was cleared by the Esperance defence at the second attempt.
Esperance should have doubled their lead with 11 minutes remaining. After Stade had given away possession near to the half-way line, Belaili did well to tee up Tka, but with just the keeper to beat from 10 yards, his shot was saved by Farhati’s outstretched foot.
Three minutes late a nice flowing Esperance move saw Dhaou release Ben Hamida close to the left-hand and a floated cross to the far post was met by Diakite, who somehow managed to head over the bar from close range.
In the 83rd minute the referee wasn’t fooled by Keita’s obvious dive inside the area to win a penalty, but the referee took play back for an earlier foul. Belaili took the free-kick but tamely put it a few feet wide of the near post.
When Stade played a hopeful long-ball forward Meriah was all over Ayari, but the referee gave a free-kick to Esperance after the ball struck the arm of the Stade forward.
Stade’s last chance came in the 88th minute but after a pull-back from the left a Stade player slid into the area, but the contact was poor and Esperance were able to clear.
As the came moved in 5 minutes of added time, Belaili got to the byline but his floated cross was bravely headed away by one of the Stade centre-backs and a free-kick was given. There was still time for Stade substitute Nacef Atoui to be shown the last yellow card of the match after a late tackle on Meriah.
Esperance comfortably saw out the closing stages of the game to retain the Super Cup. It looked like Stade Tunisien’s goalscoring problems from last season still remained. They played lots of nice football, had 53% of the possession, but lacked a cutting edge.
Although the winning penalty was dubious, Esperance looked far more dangerous when they attacked, and squandered two gilt edged chances to have won the game more comfortably.
Esperance Sportive de Tunis : Memmiche – Keita, Meriah, Tougai, Ben Hamida – Derbali ( Bouassida ), Guenichi, Konate ( Tka ) – Rached ( Dhaou ), Jabri ( Diakite ), Belaili ( Laifi )
Stade Tunisien : Farhati – Khalfa ( Atoui ), Arous, Sahraoui, Jaouadi ( Hanchi ) – Khemissi, Ndaw ( Guezmir ), Mugisha, Toure, Smaali ( Ouerghemmi )– Ayari
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