Izuchukwu OkosiTunisia on Wednesday defeated world champions France 1-0 in their last Group D game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the Education City Stadium in Qatar but failed to progress to the round of 16 stage.
The Carthage Eagles who have never advanced to the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup in history needed to win which they achieved but had to depend on Denmark avoiding a defeat against Australia in the other group game.
Sadly for the north Africans, that was not the case as the Aussies also finished their contest against the Danes 1-0 winners.
Tunisia threatened early on, with impressive defender Nader Ghandri flicking the ball into the net off a free kick but his goal was ruled for offside by the VAR after a review.
France-born Wahbi Khazri scored for the Tunisians when he side-footed the ball brilliantly to the bottom left corner beyond Steve Mandada from a mazy dribbling run as he evaded the challenge of French defenders in the 58th minute.
Mandada became the oldest player of the French national team to play at the World Cup in the game at the age of 37 years old.
The French side had a goal by Antoine Griezmann ruled out by VAR for an infringement in the buildup much to the delight of the hitherto disappointed fans in the stands.
Tunisia coach Jalel Kadri said in his post match press conference that his team departed from the tournament with “honour and pride” with the goal being their only one in the tournament.
Tunisia would have been the opponents of the first placed team in Group C which is likely to be Argentina who had to revive their World Cup aspirations after the opening Group C defeat to Saudi Arabia on November 22.
Saudi Arabia government declared a public holiday to celebrate the historic win.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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