Every World Cup has a story and a story that never ends and stays in our mind, no matter how many years and years go by, and the Tunisian national team is one of the heroes of these honorable Arab stories in World Cup competitions.
Although Arab teams have not achieved what the fans wanted in World Cup history, there are influential moments and participations that will not be erased from memory.
The 1978 World Cup saw one of the Arab moments through the Tunisian team, although it did not achieve a milestone in terms of ascent to the playoffs, but it managed to earn the respect of the world and change the perception of African teams in general.
The first post of the Eagles of Carthage
The 1978 World Cup, held on Argentine soil, saw the first participation of the Tunisian team of eagles, after having decided the qualification campaign, beating Egypt and Nigeria.
As Tunisian sports historian Abdel Baqi bin Masoud said, fears were great from this first appearance, saying: “We were going to the World Cup to receive 3 defeats and then come back, and we just hoped that the results wouldn’t be tough.”
And the Eagles of Carthage fell into the second group, which included Poland, Germany and Mexico.
Amid the fears of the fans, Tunisia surprised the whole world by beating Mexico in the first round with a score of 3-1, and this was the first victory for the Arabs at the World Cup.
The Tunisians called that game “the epic of Argentina” because it showed the determination and determination of the Carthage Eagles players, led by Tariq Diab, Tamim Al-Hazzami, Hammadi Al-Aqrabi, Ali Al-Kaabi and Mokhtar Dheib .
Mokhtar Dhoib told him in previous statements: “I remember every moment of this participation as if it happened yesterday. The name of Tunisia was not known globally, but after the victory over Mexico we encountered the attention of the media, especially of the German ones, and the fans were always watching us during the tournament. “
The second game came against Poland, which the Tunisians narrowly lost, with an unanswered goal, after an honorable and strong performance.
Despite the defeat, the fans were happy, Tunisia won in the match, but was defeated in the result, this is what the Tunisian media talked about.
In the third and final round, Germany placed themselves ahead of Tunisia’s Dream to write history in the first participation and qualify for the second round, even if the match ended goalless, but the Carthage Eagles have earned the respect of all.
This failure did not prevent Tunisian fans from being happy and proud after the illustrious first participation, which changed the point of view of the Arab and African teams in the global forum, and the historic decision of FIFA to grant Africa two seats in the start of the World Cup from the 1982 edition.
Bourguiba to the players: you were better than 100 Tunisian state ambassadors
Tunisia’s first participation found great resonance not only among the fans but also by the late Tunisian leader Habib Bourguiba.
The players received a warm welcome from the then president of the country Bourguiba, who told them at the time: “You did well with this participation, and it is better than reaching 100 Tunisian state ambassadors”.
This is a moment of pride that Tunisia still lacks after repeated disappointments in subsequent editions of 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2018, all disappointing in terms of performance and results.
