The Tunisian coach talks about his side’s early exit from the Fifa World Cup in Russia, and reflects on similar problems in the region
No Arab nation has ever reached the quarter-finals in Fifa World Cup history, with the last-16 being the best performance managed by Morocco (1986), Saudi Arabia (1994) and Algeria (2014).
The current tournament has proven to be testing in the group stage. A 2-1 defeat to England in their Group G opening match followed by a 5-2 thumping by Belgium, ended Tunisia’s campaign with a game to spare.
But it was not the Carthage Eagles to first head home as fellow North Africans Egypt and Morocco also exited the stage early following dismal results.