AFCON 2021: How Tunisia went “Italian” to knock out Nigeria – tactical analysis

Tunisia succeeded in qualifying to the AFCONs quarter-finals after beating the title favourites, Nigeria, in a match that ended with a 1-0 win for the Carthaginians  who surprised most followers of the competition with a completely different performance than those seen during the group stage matches. Tunisia werent able to display their best performances against Mali and Gambia despite winning and convincing in their second group stage match against Mauritania.

Moreover, the team suffered from harsh circumstances and were prevented from the services of numerous key players like Ali Maaloul, Ghaylène Chaalali, Aymen Dahmen, Yoann Touzghar, Dylan Bronn, Naïm Sliti as well as the teams head coach Mondher Kebaier, the doctor and other staff members. It is sufficient to mention that players like Wahbi Khazri and Issam Jebali travelled and reached the stadium just three hours before the match kick-off following their negative Covid-19 tests to get an idea of the complicated situation that preceded the match.

But despite all these circumstances, Tunisia were still able to put on an excellent performance from different aspects against a tough Nigerian side.

In this tactical analysis article, the focus will be on Tunisias defensive performance/tactics and how they were able to stop Nigerias dangerous attacking players. In the meantime, the analysis will tackle the attacking aspect, looking at what could have been done better from both sides.

Line-ups

Tunisia were lined-up according to the 4-3-3 formation with Bechir Ben Said as a goalkeeper, Bilel Ifa and Montassar Talbi as centre-backs, with Mohamed Dräger Oussama Haddadi as full-backs. The midfield was composed of Ellyes Skhiri, Aïssa Laïdouni and Anis Ben Slimane while Hamza Rafia and Youssef Msakni played on the wings in support of the striker, Seifeddine Jaziri.

Nigeria started the match using the 4-4-2 formation with Maduka Okoye as a goalkeeper, Serie A and Torino’s Ola Aina, William Troost-Ekong, La Liga and specifically Leganés’ Kenneth Omeruo and Zaidu Sanusi in defence, Wilfred Ndidi and Joe Aribo as central midfielders, Samuel Chukwueze and Ligue 1’s Moses Simon on the wings with former Manchester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho as well as Taiwo Awoniyi as strikers.

Tunisias efficient defensive performance

Tunisia were aware of Nigerias attacking efficiency and danger and therefore they took all the necessary measures to stop them. Yet, this wasnt going to be enough if the Tunisian players werent fully concentrated especially when marking their opponents. You can see in the following example how Dräger was instructed to keep marking one of Nigerias most dangerous players in the tournament so far, Moses Simon, and to not allow him to exploit his acceleration and dribbling skills.