FIFA World Cup 2022: How Tunisia’s high regains and pragmatic performance punished France – tactical analysis

Tunisia succeeded in achieving a historic win at the Education City Stadium, Qatar, against the current World champions, France, in the third and last fixture of the group stage phase. However, this big win was not sufficient for the Tunisians in order to qualify to the knockout phase. And thats because Australia won against Denmark to secure their qualification ticket alongside France. In fact, numerous results were surprising and unexpected in this group including Tunisia and Denmarks draw, Tunisias loss against Australia, the latters win against Denmark and Frances loss to Tunisia.

Tunisia were unfortunate not to pass the group after a draw against Denmark and a win against France, but at the same time, they can only blame themselves for not getting points when they faced Australia. That one unconvincing performance complicated things for Tunisia and obliged them to depend on the other matchs result to qualify, and thats why the outcome was frustrating for them despite beating the current World champions.

On the other side, it should be said that France underestimated the match and did not expect Tunisia to be able to disturb them or score goals. Head coach Didier Deschamps opted for resting numerous starting players in order to keep them fresh for the next round and to avoid unnecessary injuries as well. This was also the opportunity to give a chance to those who didn’t participate previously in order to convince their head coach and why not earn a starting spot in the knockout phase. But at the same time, the players chosen by Deschamps were not “second class” players, since they all play at big clubs such as Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester United and others.

Therefore, playing with such a team shouldn’t be an excuse for losing against Tunisia, especially when knowing that Deschamps made the needed substitutions during the second half by inserting PSG’s Kylian Mbappé, Atlético Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembélé, Juventus’ Adrien Rabiot and Arsenal’s William Saliba. France’s performance in this match was not convincing enough and it highlighted numerous weaknesses within the team, especially among the backup players.

In this tactical analysis article, we will shed light on Tunisia’s tactics and how they were able to reach France’s own penalty box numerous times and threaten their goal while remaining compact at the back for most parts of the match. It will also include an analysis of France’s errors against Tunisia and how the team didn’t find plenty of attacking solutions in addition to being fragile from a defensive perspective.

Lineups

Head coach Jalal Qaderi started this match according to the 3-4-3 formation relying on  Aymen Dahmen as a goalkeeper, Yassine Meriah, Nader Ghandri and Montassar Talbi in defence, Bundesliga’s Ellyes Skhiri and Aïssa Laïdouni as central midfielders, Ali Maâloul and Wajdi Kechrida as wing-backs, Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane and Anis Ben Slimane on both wings while Wahbi Khazri was the team’s striker.

On the other hand, France made nine changes for this match as they played according to the 4-3-3 formation using Steve Mandanda as a goalkeeper, Axel Disasi, Raphaël Varane, Ibrahima Konaté and Eduardo Camavinga in defence, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Youssouf Fofana and Jordan Veretout as central midfielders, Kingsley Coman and Mattéo Guendouzi as wingers and Randal Kolo Muani was the team’s striker instead of Olivier Giroud.

Tunisia’s excellent performance

Tunisia were the more dangerous side in this match although France is a way more powerful team on paper. The team succeeded in making up for their bitter loss against Australia which cost them the qualification and were more organised both in defence and attack. Qaderi kept using the same 3-4-3 formation while relying on fresh and efficient wing-backs like Maâloul and Kechrida who contributed heavily to Tunisia’s win thanks to their consistent accelerations and attacking contributions.

At the same time, they were excellent from