Tunisia players warm up, Hannibal Mejbri of Tunisia during the 2026 World Cup Qualifier football match between Tunisia and Namibia at Hammadi Agrebi Stadium in Rades, Tunisia on 13 October 2025 ©Mehrez Toujani/BackpagePix
Monday Dec 22, 2025. 11:00
Tunisia will be determined to make a better start this time around when they kick off their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title challenge against Uganda at the Rabat Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.
Kick-off is at 10pm CAT (SA, GMT+2)
The Eagles of Carthage disappointed in the 2023 edition as they were exited the tournament at the group stages after failing to win any of their three matches.
Sami Trabelsi’s side qualified for the continental showpiece in Morocco by finishing runners-up to Comoros in Group A with a record of three wins, one draw and two losses.
The North Africans warmed up for AFCON with a 2-1 victory over Botswana on December 18, having taken part in the Arab Cup earlier this month, but not going further than the group stages.
Tunisia lost 1-0 to Syria, drew 2-2 with Palestine and beat Qatar 3-0, although those results were only good enough for third place in their group as they missed out on the quarter-finals.
The Cranes return to Africa’s biggest stage for the first time since 2019 after failing to qualify for the last two editions.
Paul Put’s side pushed South Africa all the way during the qualifying campaign before having to settle for second place in Group K as they were pipped to top spot by one point.
Uganda lost just one of their six qualifiers – a 2-0 defeat to Bafana Bafana on 15 November 2024 after holding them to a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture – while winning the other four.
The 1978 AFCON runners-up played two friendlies last month to prepare for the tournament, beating Chad 2-1 before suffering a heavy 4-0 loss to hosts Morocco.