All this week we will profile the four Arab teams hoping to do well in Russia. Today we start with Tunisia. The Carthage Eagles are making their fifth appearance at the World Cup.

How they got there

Tunisia came top of on African qualifying group A, finishing above DR Congo, Libya and Guinea. It was one of the easier qualifying groups, with the North Africans winning four and drawing two of their six games as they made their first World Cup for 12 years unbeaten.

Manager

This is the fourth time Nabil Maaloul has been part of the Carthage Eagles coaching set up, so it is fair to say the 55-year-old knows the team and country well. A hard taskmaster, he is only too aware that confidence is key going into the game’s biggest tournament. “This is a World Cup. The players are going to have a lot of stage fright, a lot of stress. I tried to work, essentially, on that psychological aspect. I tried to make them understand that in one game anything is possible,” Maaloul said. “We can win our games. It’s 90 minutes, maybe 95 minutes. You have to let go. We have to play hard. Play our game like we know how.”

Tactics

The side is technically gifted and very good at keeping the ball and set up defensively — the sort of game that tends to trouble Group G rivals England. They will not score many, but will not concede many either, so expect them to setback and counterattack. Maaloul is very flexible and agile in his approach and it is very much a case of horses for courses. He played 4-2-3-1 in an African Cup of
Nations qualifier against Egypt, played with five at the back in the game at DR Congo that clinched their place at the World Cup and also quite likes 4-3-3. Tunisian experts predict he will play 5-3-2 against England and Belgium, but use a 4-2-3-1 formation against Panama.

Key man

It would have been playmaker Youssef Msakni, but he suffered a devastating blow when he sustained a World Cup-ending knee injury in the final game of the Qatari league season. Many will go for Wahbi Khazri instead, simply because he has played in the Premier League, but much more will rest on the shoulders of Naim Sliti. The winger, who plays at Lille, needs to assume the playmaking role in the absence of Msakni. He heads into the finals high in confidence after scoring four in his last five Ligue 1 games on loan at Dijon.

World Cup history

Tunisia first qualified in 1978 before appearing in three straight tournaments in 1998, 2002 and 2006. They have drawn one and lost two in each of their last three World Cup group-stage campaigns. Their only win at the World Cup happened to be their first ever game at the finals in 1978. Having gone a goal down to Mexico, they rallied in the second half to win 3-1 in Argentina.

Strengths

They have great powers of recovery and are clearly made of strong stuff. They came from two down to draw with Congo in September; put four unanswered goals past Guinea after conceding first; recovered from two down to draw with Portugal and also gave Turkey a headstart before
recording a draw. However, they cannot afford to be playing catch-up too many times in a group featuring England and Belgium.

Weaknesses

They only scored 11 goals in qualifying, so the lack of firepower is worrying. Yassine Khenissi, who was the leading goalscorer in last year’s CAF Champions League, will miss the World Cup after sustaining a thigh injury. And Msakni, who got a hat-trick in the win over Guinea, is also missing, so Tunisia will need to find some goals from somewhere.