Tunisia scored the only goal of the match in the 58th minute through Wahbi Khazri
The Tunisian national team was eliminated from the group stage of the 2022 World Cup, despite its victory over France, with a goal without a response.
The French national team qualified at the top of the group with six points, followed by the second-placed Australia team with six points as well, but on goal difference, after defeating Denmark with a goal without a response.
The Tunisian national team entered the France match with no other choice but to win in order to advance to the round of sixteen, while the French national team had already secured qualification after winning the first two matches against Australia and Denmark.
Tunisia’s coach, Jalal Al-Qadri, made six changes to his team’s starting line-up against France, the most prominent of which was left-back Ali Maaloul, who plays for Al-Ahly of Egypt.
France’s coach, Didier Deschamps, decided to rest his most prominent players after securing qualification, and made nine complete changes to his squad against Tunisia.
Tunisia started the match with great enthusiasm and was the best in the first 15 minutes and scored a goal, but the referee canceled the match for offside, but France soon entered the atmosphere of the match, and the first half ended in a goalless draw.
Tunisia scored the only goal of the match in the 58th minute through Wahbi Khazri, who became the most Arab player scoring goals in the history of the World Cup with three goals, equally with Saudi star Sami Al-Jaber.
France scored a goal in the eighth minute of calculated time instead of lost by Antoine Griezmann, but the referee canceled it on the grounds of offside after returning to the mouse technique.
Tunisia has never skipped the group stage in the World Cup during its previous five participations.
Historically, Tunisia and France have met in four matches, in which France won two matches, and two matches ended in a draw.
In the second match in the same group, Australia beat Denmark with a goal without a response to qualify for the round of sixteen in second place.
France and Australia will play with the qualifiers from Group C, which includes Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Mexico.
The Saudi national team ranks third in the group with three points, on goal difference behind the second-placed Argentina national team.
Poland leads the standings with four points, while Mexico bottoms the group with one point.
The Saudi team needs to come out with a positive result in order to qualify for the round of sixteen, as losing means its early exit from the finals.
As Saudi Arabia beat Mexico, it will guarantee qualification for the second round, regardless of the outcome of the second match between Poland and Argentina.
However, in the event that the match between Saudi Arabia and Mexico ends in a draw, Saudi Arabia’s chances will depend on the outcome of the other match, as it will then need Poland to win and Argentina not to come out with any positive result.