The Tunisian youth team will meet its English counterpart, the champion of the last edition of the European Nations, at the Diego Maradona stadium in the capital, Buenos Aires, in the opening of the fifth group competitions, which also includes the teams of Iraq and Uruguay.
After the disappointing participation of the Carthage Eagles team in the Qatar World Cup 2022 by leaving the race in the first round, the Tunisian football fans’ aspirations seem great for the youth team to achieve the World Cup achievement and compensate for the successive failures suffered by Tunisian teams and clubs in continental and international competitions alike.
The draw for the Youth World Cup finals placed Tunisia in Group E, alongside Iraq, to be representatives of Arab football, as well as England and Uruguay.
The Tunisian national team will face its English counterpart in the first round on Monday evening, while it will meet its Iraqi counterpart on Thursday, May 25th, and the first round will conclude with a meeting with the Uruguay national team on Sunday, the 28th of this month.
Why is the forced absent?
The Tunisian national team, which finished fourth in the African Nations Championship for under 20 years (Egypt 2023), seeks to achieve a first World Cup achievement in this competition, in its third participation in its history after it had hosted the first edition in 1977, and participated in the Russia 1985 edition and left since the round. The first both times.
The Tunisian national team uses a number of its professional players in European clubs, where coach Montaser Al-Wahishi invited 25 players, including 8 who are active in French, Italian, German and English clubs, as well as Egyptian Al-Ahly striker Mohamed Al-Dhawi, and 16 players belonging to Tunisian Premier League clubs.
Al-Wahishi assumed his position as the new coach of the under-20 national team last April, succeeding Adel Al-Sulaimi, who was dismissed due to poor results.
Al-Wahishi said in a press conference he held before traveling to Buenos Aires:
• “Honoring Tunisian football is the first goal of the national team during its participation in the World Cup in Argentina.”
• “Tunisia’s mission in Group E will not be easy at all, especially as we will face strong teams such as England, Iraq and Uruguay, but we will play without calculations and we will work to leave the best impressions in the World Cup.”
• “The preparations that we made for this competition were not good, due to the short period of time allotted for preparing for this event, in addition to the limited number of players we would count on. We did not have many options, but that does not mean that we will go into the World Cup with a defeatist mentality.”
• “The group he will rely on includes a mixture of local players and professionals in Europe.”
• “The national team’s list is witnessing the absence of other players whose commitments with their clubs prevented them from attending the preparation camp, such as Manchester United star Hannibal Al-Majbri, who is currently active in Birmingham on loan, noting that he expressed his desire to participate in the World Cup, but the transitional period he is going through With his Manchester United team, his absence was inevitable.
• “The competition to qualify for the second round of Group E remains a legitimate dream, but it is difficult, especially in light of the presence of the European champions England, Iraq and the runners-up of the Asian Nations, and Uruguay, who played 9 matches in the South American qualifiers, during which they were defeated only in one match against Brazil.” .
• “We will spare no effort to surprise and qualify. We will play every match as if it were a decisive and decisive meeting.”
The surprise is coming
And the former Tunisian national team star, Tariq Abdali, believes that the professional players in Europe whom Al-Wahishi sought help are able to honor Tunisian and Arab football in the World Cup, although the lottery did not do justice to the “Carthage Eagles” by entering a difficult group that they will face at the opening of the England team.
In an interview with “Sky News Arabia”, Al-Abdali said: “Playing without accounts is the best way for the national team, facing England. At the beginning of the group competitions, it will be difficult, but qualification for the second round will not be decided until the third round.”
He continued, “Each team has its strengths and weaknesses, and the coaching staff and players must focus, especially on the confrontations between Iraq and Uruguay, to cause a surprise.”
Al-Abdali added, “The lack of preparation for this competition is the biggest obstacle for the Tunisian youth team, but it would be surprising if the national team played according to its potential and faced all its competitors in the first round with club and high confidence.”
The first and second places in each group qualify for the second round of the World Cup, along with the best 4 teams from the third places.
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