Sao Tome & Principe 2-3 Equatorial Guinea ( att : 200 est ) – 2026 World Cup Qualifier

September 4, 2025

Today marked the resumption of African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, which began way back in November in 2023.

These diaries covered Equatorial Guinea’s first match in their qualifying campaign, when they beat Namibia 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from Emilio Nsue. A full background to football in Equatorial Guinea can be found in that report.

https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/11/equatorial-guinea-1-0-namibia-att-3000.html 

Equatorial Guinea Update

Equatorial Guinea then won their next match, 1-0 in Liberia, with Nsue again on target, and they looked contenders to at least achieve a play-off position from their group. However, during the 6-month break between the next round of fixtures, Equatorial Guinea were shocked by an announcement from FIFA that Nsue did not have Equatoguinean nationality, and both results had been overturned to become 0-3 forfeits.

Spanish born Nsue ( 47 caps ), who had played for Middlesborough and Birmingham City, was no stranger to such controversy as FIFA had previously declared him to be ineligible in 2013, and two results were overturned then. However, Nsue had continued to represent Equatorial Guinea in World Cup and African Cup of National matches after that, until the second ruling. Nsue finally attained citizenship early in 2025 and returned to the squad after having missed two qualifying matches, and scored again in the 2-0 home win over today’s opponents.

Equatorial Guinea currently had a 2-1-3 record, but on the pitch, it was 4-1-1. In their last outing, a 1-1 draw was played out against second placed Namibia. With four matches still to be played Equatorial Guinea could still achieve a second-place finish, but they would probably need to win all four games, including a home tie against Tunisia, who are almost certain to win the group.

The qualification matches for the 2025 Africa Cup Nations had been played concurrently with the World Cup qualifiers, and Equatorial Guinea had qualified for the finals being played in Morocco in December, where they have been drawn in a group with Algeria, Burkina Faso and Sudan.

Sao Tome & Principe

Sao Tome and Principe is an island country in the western equatorial coast off Central Africa, just over 200 km from Gabon. It consists of two islands, Sao Tome and Principe, and with a population of around 200,000 is the second least populous African sovereign state after Seychelles. Around 8,000 people live on Principe with the rest on Sao Tome.

The country was a former colony of Portugal and achieved independence in 1975. The official language is Portuguese and the only scheduled flights from Europe to the country are from Lisbon.

Sao Tome & Principe National Team

The Sao Tome & Principe national team was currently 193th in the FIFA rankings, the 4^th lowest in Africa, ahead of Somalia, Seychelles and unranked Eritrea. Their highest all-time ranking was in 2012 when they reached 115^th. They have several nicknames, including Falcons and True Parrots, Warriors Of The Equator and The Elephants.

Sao Tome and Principe have never qualified for the finals of the World Cup or the Africa Cup of Nations, and out of the 71 official matches played, they had won only 10, three of which were against Mauritius. They did have a win against Equatorial Guinea, but the 2-0 victory was back in 1999 !

They came into today’s game on a run of 15 games without a win, since a 1-0 win in Mauritius in March 2022. All 6 World Cup Qualifiers had been lost with only two goals scored and Sao Tome were no longer able to qualify for the finals. Last time out Sao Tome & Principe had lost 1-2 in Liberia.

Sao Tome had been unbeaten in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers though, but a 1-1 home draw and 0-0 away draw with South Sudan meant they were eliminated on away goals !

No player from Sao Tome & Principe has played in the English Premier League but ex-Wolverhampton Wanders, Tottenham Hotspur and current Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Santos was born in Sao Tome.

Midfielder Mauro Vilhete ( 7 caps ) played for Barnet in the English Football League and also Dagenham & Redbridge and Hampton and Richmond Borough, but is now with National League South side Hemel Hempstead. Winger Joao Silva ( 3 caps ) featured in these diaries last season for Farsley Celtic at Oxford City and is now playing for Guiseley.

Forward Ronaldo Lumungo Afonso ( 12 caps ) plays for Pacos de Ferreira in the Portuguese second level and Male Andrade ( 4 caps ) was with Portuguese top flight side Estrela Amadora. The majority of the squad for this match though plied their trade in the lower divisions in Portugal, although uncapped keeper Yaniel Bonfim played in Spain and Mimi ( 13 caps ) played in the Bulgarian third division.

Sao Tome & Principe National League

Details of the Sao Tome and Principe Campeonato Nacional are a little easier to find than the Equatorial Guinea domestic league and some matches are streamed live on FIFA+. There are currently 18 teams in the league, which is split between 6 sides from Principe and 12 from Sao Tome. The champions of each league play a final to determine the overall winner.

To date, 29 title winners have come from Sao Tome whilst GD Os Operarios from Principe have won the title on 6 occasions, the last of which was in 2021/22. Sporting Praia Cruz have won the title the most times, with 8, whilst the current champions are Agrosport.

In the 2025 season, Operarios were again the winners of the Principe league, whilst Vitoria de Riboque topped the Sao Tome league table. Vitoria had been champions five times but the last time was back in 1989. The Grand Final is due to be played in September but the date has not yet been published.

One side is entitled to play in both the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederations Cup but no side from Sao Tome & Principe entered the 2024/25 editions.

Matchday Information

Sao Tome & Principe are one of 11 countries in Africa that have been banned from hosting home qualifying matches due to the poor conditions of their stadiums. As a result, home matches are being played in Morocco, with today’s game being held at the 35,000 capacity Honor Stadium in Oujda in Morocco, which has a grass pitch surrounded by a running track.

Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea is around 440km from Sao Tome, so this match could almost be considered to be a local derby, although both sides had to travel over 3,600km for the fixture...... 

The weather at the 17.00 local time kick-off ( also 17.00 UK time ) was sunny and 31 degrees.

Bet365.com, who streamed the match live, made Equatorial Guinea 1/3 favourites, with Sao Tome at 11/1 and the draw at 15/4. The match was also supposed to be live streamed on the FIFA+ website, but instead the link went to the Angola vs Libya qualifier !

The referee in charge of the game, and his assistants, were from Zambia. 

Sao Tome made fives changes to the starting XI against Liberia, with keeper Bonfim, defenders Ricardo Vaz Afonso Fernandes, Mimi and Waldimison, and winger Semedo selected.

Equatorial Guinea made two changes to the side that drew in Namibia, with Sparta Prague midfielder Santiago Eneme ( 34 caps ) and defender Santi Boriko ( 2 caps ) coming into the side. Eight of the started had begun the first game against Namibia covered by these diaries  

Sao Tome & Principe were in mostly green shirts with red and yellow splodges, with red shorts and green socks, whilst Equatorial Guinea were playing in an all-white kit.

Match Report

With the game being played in neutral territory in Morocco, there was a ghostly feel to the start of the match, similar to the behind closed doors games during the Covid Pandemic, and the early tempo was very slow as both sides felt their way.

The first action came in the 4^th minute when a long ball out of the Equatorial Guinea defence forced Vava Pequeno ( 13 caps ) into a flying header to prevent the ball reaching Nsue and keeper Bonfim needed to push the header away for a corner, When the corner was cleared, Basilo Ndong ( 58 caps ) shot high and wide from long range.

A minute late Boriko was played into space on the right, his cross glanced on by Nsue to Eneme at the far post but the Sparta Prague player was denied at close range by a good save by Bonfim for another corner.

The corner was cleared and Sao Tome broke quickly. Lumungo showed good pace to run clear of the defence, and after looking up, played a square pass to the unmarked Semedo. The Sao Tome forward tried to go around the keeper and was brought down. Looking at the replay it could be argued he fell over the keeper to ensure there was contact, but anyway the penalty was awarded. Lumungo sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot to make it 1-0 after 8 minutes.

Shortly after Braganca sent a long raking ball from inside his own half to put Semedo clear on the left, but his dangerous ball into the centre of the penalty area was cleared by an Equatorial Guinea defender.

Equatorial Guinea appeared to be rocked after failing behind and after they lost possession mid-way inside the Sao Tome half, Semedo broke quickly and passed to Lumungo, but his first touch was heavy and the ball rolled to keeper Jesus Owono ( 38 caps ), who plays for FC Andorra.

Equatorial Guinea’s response was to send a ball down right- hand channel for Real Mallorca’s Omar Mascarell ( 9 caps ) to run onto but keeper Bonfim came off his line and dived on the ball. The away side were now starting to apply a pressure, and won a free-kick 25 yards out when Pablo Ganet ( 56 caps ) was fouled, but the free-kick struck a head in the wall and sailed over the bar for a corner.

Keeper Owono then played a long pass to Iban Salvador ( 52 caps and who now plays for Wisla Plock in Poland ), on the right wing, who found Monza’s Pedro Obiang 9 24 caps ) in a good position 10 yards out but the shot was blocked for another corner.

A water break was taken after 24 minutes and shortly after the resumption, Torino’s Saul Coco ( 30 caps ) sent a vicious 30 yard effort dipping just over the Sao Tome bar.

In the 29nd minute Eneme played into the goalmouth from the left but it was put out for a corner. When the set-piece was cleared, Eneme again had possession on the left and another low ball was put out at the near post for another corner. Nsue headed high over the bar after a short corner routine.

The pressure was mounting up and Lumungo, back defending, blocked a cross for yet another corner. Again, it was taken short and then crossed to beyond the far post, the keeper flapped and missed, but Nsue could only head into side netting from close range.

Equatorial Guinea felt hard done by in the 35^th minute when Salvador’s quickly taken free-kick put Ndong clear inside the San Tome area, but the referee decided to bring play back to have the free-kick retaken. Ganet whipped to retaken kick into the near post but Obiang’s glancing header went a couple of feet wide.

Semedo received the first yellow card of the match in the 37^th minute after a late tackle on Esteban Orozco. A minute later a delicate left footed chip from Salvador hit the crossbar with the keeper stranded and Obiang was crowded out by two Sao Tome defenders whilst going for the rebound.

The game took a dramatic turn in the 40^th minute. Andrade chased a through ball from Braganca and appeared to trip Boriko before getting to the ball, which he wildly kicked past Owono and then ran straight into the motionless keeper and hit the deck. Strangely, the referee deemed this to be a penalty offence, which looked harsh on two counts. Anyway, Lumungo this time blasted to the keeper’s right, and the ball went over the keeper’s dive. It was now 2-0 after 42 minutes

In added on time, Nsue beat his marker on close to the right-hand byline and played a low ball to the near post which was controlled by Braganca who quickly sent Semedo running into the Equatorial Guinea half before being tackled.

The last action of the half saw Bonfim make a flying push away to left wing cross, but Equatorial Guinea were unable to make anything of loose ball.

At the interval, despite Equatorial Guinea having had most of the possession and forcing a number of corners, San Tome led 2-0 and looked to be on the verge of a major upset, with the pace of their three attackers causing problems for Equatorial Guinea defence.

Equatorial Guinea made a change for the second half, with Nantes B 19-year-old Jose Nabil ( 5 caps ) replacing Boriko. They continued where they left off in the first half and Nsue acrobatically got to a left-wing cross from Ndong, but he could only send high over the bar.

Eneme then shot from the edge of the area but was denied by the diving Bonfim, diving to his left to push the ball away. The rebound was eventually put out for a corner, from which the under pressure Bonfim punched away and then dived amongst the flying feet to claim loose ball.

The pressure finally told when Ganet stepped up to take a free-kick just over 20 yards from goal, and a superb kick went over the wall, bounced down off bar and then into the roof of the net to bring Equatorial Guinea back into the game. It was 2-1 in the 53^rd minute.

A minute later a stray pass in the Sao Tome half was picked up by Nabil, who ran at the defence and inside the penalty area. His shot was pushed onto bar by the diving Sao Tome keeper and then bounced down, and Bonfim grabbed. No goal was given, and the replays showed the ball had bounced on line, so it was a good decision by the linesman.

Nabil then shot from wide on the left, but the effort was clutched into his chest by keeper Bonfim.

Equatorial Guinea continued to drive forward and Nabil crossed with the outside of his right foot but Nsue stretching, headed over from middle of the goal from 6 yards out.

Bonfim was in action again shortly after, coming out of his area to head away a long ball before Nsue could get to it. Unfortunately for San Tome, Vava Pequeno made a hash of his clearance, and Salvador nipped in to put the ball into empty net from edge of area. 2-2 with 61 minutes played.

A rare foray into the Equatorial Guinea half saw a shot from the edge of area swatted away by Owono, but Equatorial Guinea were soon back on the attack looking for a third goal. A Nabil cross was headed away for corner, and after it was taken short, Nabil’s effort curled just wide of the far post.

Nsue was then able to wriggle into the Sao Tome 6 yard box but his shot was blocked by Bonfim’s outstretched foot, following which Nsue reached the loose ball only to see his next attempted blocked, and the rebound was blazed high and wide.

A goal was coming and it duly arrived when Nabil's fantastic swerving shot from the angle of penalty area flew into top corner to make it 2-3 with 69 minutes on the clock.

It had been a remarkable turnaround but it had been fully deserved as it had been virtually all one-way traffic in the second half. Nabil was continuing to cause also sorts of trouble for the Sao Tome backline and after turning close to left-hand byline, his cross took a deflection and flew over his teammate at far post.

A second water break was taken after 75 minutes, after which the game mostly fizzled out. Sao Tome had one half chance when a poor pass from keeper Owono was intercepted and played wide to Lumungo, who played into Gue on the edge of the area, but the substitute’s control was poor, and an Equatorial Guinea defender cleared for a throw-in.

With time running out the impressive Nabil beat two defenders to get to the left-hand byline and then pulled back to Gael Joel Akogo, whose shot from 12 yards deflected for a corner.

5 added minutes were to be played, but these were comfortably seen out by Equatorial Guinea to take the three points, which had seemed in doubt at the break, to keep their qualification hopes alive. In Nabil, they appear to have unearthed a potential star for the future.

Sao Tome will be disappointed at have let a chance of major upset slip through their fingers

Sao Tome & Principe :  Bonfim – Fernandes ( Gue ), Waldimison ( Ramos ), D’Almeida, Vava Pequeno, Mimi – Braganca, Neves ( Joao Silva ), Lumungo ( Lopes ), Semedo -  Andrade

Equatorial Guinea : Owono – Boriko ( Nabil ), Orozoco, Coco, Ndong – Salvador ( Akogo ), Obiang ( Buyla ), Ganet, Mascarell, Eneme ( Makate ) – Nsue ( Zuniga )

 

Esperance Sportive de Tunis 1-0 Stade Tunisien ( att : 25,000 ) – 2024/25 Tunisian Super Cup

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 49^th in the FIFA World Rankings, having achieved a high of 14^th 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 91^st 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 100^th 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 5^th 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 3^rd 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 6^th 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 27^th 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 36^th 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 54^th 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 64^th 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 83^rd 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 88^th 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