Tunisia on Wednesday defeated world champions France 1-0 in their last Group D game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the Education City Stadium in Qatar but failed to progress to the round of 16 stage.
The Carthage Eagles who have never advanced to the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup in history needed to win which they achieved but had to depend on Denmark avoiding a defeat against Australia in the other group game.
Sadly for the north Africans, that was not the case as the Aussies also finished their contest against the Danes 1-0 winners.
Tunisia threatened early on, with impressive defender Nader Ghandri flicking the ball into the net off a free kick but his goal was ruled for offside by the VAR after a review.
France-born Wahbi Khazri scored for the Tunisians when he side-footed the ball brilliantly to the bottom left corner beyond Steve Mandada from a mazy dribbling run as he evaded the challenge of French defenders in the 58th minute.
Mandada became the oldest player of the French national team to play at the World Cup in the game at the age of 37 years old.
The French side had a goal by Antoine Griezmann ruled out by VAR for an infringement in the buildup much to the delight of the hitherto disappointed fans in the stands.
Tunisia coach Jalel Kadri said in his post match press conference that his team departed from the tournament with “honour and pride” with the goal being their only one in the tournament.
Tunisia would have been the opponents of the first placed team in Group C which is likely to be Argentina who had to revive their World Cup aspirations after the opening Group C defeat to Saudi Arabia on November 22.
Saudi Arabia government declared a public holiday to celebrate the historic win.
Izuchukwu OkosiIzuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.