Tunisia

The first African nation to win a game in the FIFA World Cup finals in 1978, Tunisia still awaits a second victory since then despite taking part in two more tournaments.

Tunisia has had a good run in the qualifying games recently and it has reached the finals for the third time in succession.

Being one of the five African nations to have played at the FIFA World Cup finals in 2002, Tunisia did not have to play the preliminary qualifiers for this year’s edition.

With a stupendous run at the Confederations Cup in Germany last year, Tunisia has proved itself to be a force to be reckoned with in this year’s finals.

French coach Roger Lemerre enjoys iconic status in Tunisia having taken the nation to previously unachieved heights, winning the African Cup of Nations in 2004 and an unforgettable run at the FIFA Confederations Cup.

After having taken France to victory at the 2000 European Championship and the Confederations Cup the following year, Lemerre has made the ‘Carthage Eagles’ one of the toughest teams from the Dark Continent.

It would be a tough ask for the Tunisians however, to topple over the teams in their group, which are Spain, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.

Few of the players to watch out for include Ziad Jaziri, Santos, Adel Chadli and influential captain Hatem Trabelsi.