2026 World Cup: Ex-Nigerian International backs Tunisia despite Sweden loss

Former Nigeria U-20 midfielder Samuel Elijah has backed the Tunisian football team to put their loss to Sweden in their 2026 FIFA World Cup Group C opener behind them, Soccernet.ng reports.

The Eagles of Carthage arrived the Monterrey Stadium in Mexico on the back of heavy losses to Belgium and Austria. The poor form continued as they fell to a 5-1 loss against Graham Potter's side.

Brighton's midfielder Yasin Ayari scored a brace against Tunisia before household names like Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak joined in the party. Following the humiliating loss, Tunisia sacked head coach Sabri Lamouchi.

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2026 World Cup: Samuel Elijah backs Tunisia for round of 32 spot

Tunisia lost to the Super Eagles of Nigeria during the AFCON 2025 tournament in Morocco. However, Elijah was surprised by the margin of the loss the one-time African Champions suffered.

“Honestly, I’m disappointed because they are the face of Africa. Losing by that big margin is a disappointment. But I tell you, that’s football for you,” the 56-year-old said in an interview with Footy Africa.

Still, with the Copa Mundial expanded to 48 teams, the three-cap Flying Eagle believes that Tunisia have a strong chance to turn things around, tipping them to follow in Morocco's footsteps.

“Don’t be surprised in the second match, they can spring back and pull a surprise. Anything can happen.

“You can see the performance of the Moroccans. You know, that is a message to the rest of the world that there are no minnows anymore when it comes to football.

“So, I think our [Africa] chances are bright. Like the Moroccans, you can see what they did to Brazil. Brazil, they have to fight back to equalize. So, I think our chances are bright,” Sam Elijah continued.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup games entertaining fans from fixture to fixture, the former Nigerian midfielder bemoaned the absence of the Super Eagles from the competition.

“It’s unfortunate we didn’t qualify. We would have done well in this tournament with the crop of players we have now.”

Tunisia will play their second group game against the Samurai of Japan next Sunday. The Asian side came back twice to seal a point against the Netherlands in their opening group game.