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Ali Maaloul. Author GrzMohamed.

10 Best Tunisian Football (Soccer) Players of All Time

Tunisia’s national team hast appeared in the end stages of five FIFA World Cups and eighteen Africa Cup of Nations, and featured at four Olympic football tournaments.

They created history in that 1978 tournament in Argentina by becoming the first African side to win a World Cup match by defeating Mexico. They qualified for three tournaments in succession, in 1998, 2002 and 2006 before returning in the last edition held in Russia in 2018.

However in spite of this rich record, Tunisia had never been able to progress out the group stage in any FIFA World Cup or Summer Olympics. They are again participating in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

1. Hamza Mathlouthi

Hamza Mathlouthi. Author Mohamed Amin Trabelsi.

 Hamza Mathlouth, born 25 July 1992, is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Zamalek SC and the Tunisia national team. He started his career playing for CA Bizertin, and CS Sfaxien before joining Egyptian club Zamalek SC in 2020.

He was also part of the Tunisian squad in the 2015, 2017 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He scored his first goal for his country in the 2021 tournament (played in January 2022) against Mauritania in Limbe.

Some of the accomplishments include; CA BizertinmTunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1: runner-up 2011–12, Zamalek; Egyptian Premier League 2020–21, 2021-22, Egypt Cup: 2021.

2. Ali MaâloulAli Maâloul

Ali MaâloulAli Maâloul. Author Dmitry Sadovnikov.

Ali MaâloulAli Maâloul, born 1 January 1990, is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Al Ahly and the Tunisia national team.

Maâloul started his career with hometown club CS Sfaxien and became their captain and top scorerfrom the 2014–15 season. He scored 14 goals in 20 matches, a record for a defender since none has scored more than nine goals in a season. At CS Sfaxien, he wore the number 10 shirt, which is unusual for his position.

Some of his achievements include; Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1: 2012–13, CAF Confederation Cup: 2013, North African Cup Winners Cup: 2009, Egyptian Premier League: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, Egypt Cup: 2016–17, 2019–20, Egyptian Super Cup: 2017, 2018–19, CAF Champions League: 2019–20, 2020–21, FIFA Club World Cup: Third place 2020, 2021, CAF Super Cup: 2021 (May), 2021 (December).

Individually, he has won Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 top goal scorer: 2015–16, CAF Team of the Year: 2017, IFFHS Men’s CAF Team of The Year: 2020, 2021.

3. Rami Kaib Rami Kaib

Rami Kaib Rami Kaib, born 8 May 1997 in Sweden, is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Dutch club SC Heerenveen. He represented Sweden internationally at under-19 level, before being called up to the Tunisia national team in 2022Club.

4. Nader Ghandri

Nader Ghandri. Author Biser Todorov.

Nader Ghandri, born 18 February 1995, is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays for Club Africain and the Tunisia national team.  Ghandri spent his youth career with a number of Paris-based sides, playing for Ivry, Red Star and Drancy.

In 2015, Ghandri was a member of the Tunisia under-23 national team at the 2015 U-23 Africa Cup of Nations in Senegal, making 2 appearances in the tournament.

5. Saîf-Eddine Khaoui

Saîf-Eddine Khaoui, also translated as Saifeddine Khaoui, born 27 April 1995 is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Clermont and the Tunisia national team.

Khaoui made his senior debut for the Tunisia national team in a friendly 1–0 win over Iran on 23 March 2018. And in June 2018 he was named in Tunisia’s 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

6. Youssef MsakniYoussef Msakni

Youssef MsakniYoussef Msakni, born 28 October 1990, is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Qatar Stars League club Al Arabi l and the Tunisia national team. Msakni has played over 80 matches and scored 17 goals for Tunisia.

On 30 September 2012, he won the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 for the fourth time, as the best scorer in the Tunisian football championship with 17 goals, becoming the 48th best footballer of the 2012 season in all countries.  He also participated in several CAN tournaments.

7. Hatem Trabelsi

Hatem Trabelsi, born 25 January 1977, is a Tunisian former professional footballer who played as a right-back for CS Sfaxien, Ajax, Manchester City and Al-Hilal Riyadh. At international level, he represented the Tunisia national team in three World Cups, gaining a total of 66 caps before retiring from international football in 2006.

8. Radhi Jaïdi

Radhi Ben Abdelmajid Jaïdi, born 30 August 1975, is a Tunisian former footballer who played as a centre back. He has also served as head coach of the under-23 team at Southampton, head coach of USL Championship team Hartford Athletic, assistant coach at Belgian side Cercle Brugge and head coach at Esperance de Tunis.

 9. Ali Boumnijel

Ali Boumnijel, born 13 April 1966, is a Tunisian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He works for Sochaux as assistant coach.

 His first game as a professional footballer came on 20 October 1991 for AS Nancy in a 1–3 loss to AJ Auxerre. Afterwards he returned to his previous team, where he played five seasons, until changing to SC Bastia. He played for Bastia for six years, and then one season at FC Rouen. In 2004, he moved back to Tunisia to play for Club Africain.

 In the national team he debuted on 27 November 1991 against Côte d’Ivoire. Having established himself as a competitive goalkeeper he went on to play for Tunisia in the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2002 FIFA World Cup and 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Boumnijel was Tunisia’s first choice goalkeeper, and played at the 2004 African Nations Cup where the Tunisia team won. In the semifinals he saved a crucial penalty helping Tunisia beat Nigeria in a penalty shootout. Aged 40, he was the oldest player at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Boumnijel has been praised for his great leadership and goalkeeping skills during the World Cup.

10. Abdelmajid Chetali

Abdelmajid Al-Chetali , born 4 July 1939, is a Tunisian football coach and former player who played a total of 70 games with the national team and scored four goals. He also participated in the 1960 Summer Olympics. He received only one yellow card during his career.

 As a manager, he led them in their first ever World Cup appearance in 1978, where Tunisia became the first African team to win a World Cup match, beating Mexico by 3–1 making FIFA increase the number of seats in the African continent from one place to two places. He managed both the Tunisian and Bahraini national football teams.