World Cup 2026: Tunisia records the worst African start in history

21.06.26 FT World Cup

Tunisia

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Japan

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Tunisia’s participation in the 2026 World Cup has turned into a nightmare. The Carthage Eagles suffered another heavy defeat against Japan (4-0) overnight from Saturday to Sunday, on matchday two of Group F.

Captain Ali Abdi and his teammates had already opened their World Cup campaign with a harsh loss to Sweden (5-1), which severely dented their hopes of qualification.

This fresh drubbing at the hands of the “Blue Samurai” not only sealed Tunisia’s premature elimination. It also produced a string of damning statistics, placing the Tunisian side among the teams with the worst starts in the history of the competition.

Tunisia sets an unfortunate historic first

According to data published by specialist account Stats Foot, Tunisia has become the first African side in World Cup history to concede at least four goals in each of its first two matches in a single edition.

With nine goals conceded in just two games, the Carthage Eagles also become only the second African nation to let in at least nine goals after their first two matches at a World Cup, following Zaire in 1974 (who conceded 11 goals).

The negative stats don’t stop there. Tunisia is also the first team to lose each of its first two World Cup matches by a margin of at least four goals since Greece at the 1994 tournament. Back then, the Greeks lost 4-0 to Argentina before falling by the same scoreline to Bulgaria.

This disastrous run highlights the immense difficulties faced by the Tunisian national team at this 2026 edition, marking one of the toughest chapters in their World Cup history.

After the heavy defeat against Japan, how did SofaScore rate the Eagles of Carthage?

Mohamed Rek |

Editorfr, ar, en

Mohamed Rek- sports content writer with over 10 years of experience creating football content in Arabic and French for platforms such as Foot Africa and Starafrica, combining accuracy, creativity, and audience engagement.

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