Tunisia have been a little overlooked for World Cup Fantasy with two big nations draw in the same group as them.
However, going into the tournament with just one defeat in the last 15 months, there’s no reason that the cheap options available can’t be differentials for risk-taking Fantasy managers.
We’ve got everything you need to know about England’s first opponents of the World Cup.
ROAD TO QUALIFICATION
Securing passage to Russia out of a favourable draw in qualification, Tunisia have been perhaps unfairly written off as another set of World Cup whipping boys. Since booking their place at this summer’s finals, the Eagles of Carthage have gone toe-to-toe with some of Europe’s big sides and shown they will be no walkovers in Group G. At the very least, they should prove a much sterner test for Belgium and England than Panama.
Coach Nabil Maaloul, in his second spell, has been in the job just over a year and took charge of the last four qualifying matches in CAF Group A. Tunisia had won the opening two fixtures but were eliminated from the quarter-finals of last year’s African Cup of Nations by Burkina Faso at the quarter-final stages.
Implementing a 4-3-3 formation, Maloul oversaw two wins and two draws to top Group A and since then has impressed on the friendly circuit. In 10 matches played since last March, Tunisia have lost just once. The group of players is one that seemingly never gives up either, twice coming from 2-0 down in big matches to salvage draws; against DR Congo in qualifying and recently against Portugal in a warm-up match.
In fact, the warm-up programme went better than could be expected. In order to replicate playing against Panama, England and Belgium, Tunisia arranged friendlies with Costa Rica, Portugal and Spain. From those three matches in particular, they registered a win, a draw and a defeat. Costa Rica were beaten 1-0, Spain were given a stern test and only came out 1-0 victors, while Maaloul’s men stunned Portugal by coming back from 2-0 down to draw. Seeing success in those results, Tunisia will not be afraid to ask England and Belgium questions, just as they did against Spain and Portugal.
The only things for Tunisians to be disappointed by is the difficulty of that Group G draw but more importantly the injury to best player Youssef Msakni. He was vital during qualification, scoring and assisting three times each (six goal involvements) in six matches, but suffered a cruciate knee injury in March.
CAF QUALIFYING
Most starts: Mohamed Amine Ben Amor, Ali Maloul, Aymen Mathlouthi (all 6), Hamdi Nagguez (5), Ghilane Chalali, Yassine Meriah (both 4).
Most goals: Aymen Abdennour, Anice Badri, Ben Amor, Anis Ben-Haitra, Chalali, Wahbi Khazri, Meriah (all one).
Most assists: Ben Amor, Maloul (both 2).
THE KEY TARGETS
Anice Badri (£5.5m on McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy) didn’t feature much in qualifying but has been a key figure for Tunisia in recent friendlies. The Esperance forward has scored in two of Tunisia’s last three matches, against Portugal and Turkey, adding to his one strike as a substitute in CAF Group A. Hitting form at the right time, Badri has started the last three friendlies as a wide forward, either on the left or right. His Fantasy appeal is furthered by McDonald’s classifying him as a midfielder on their official game, with a budget price fo just £5.5m. Badri could be an essential pick for anyone playing their Wildcard ahead of Gameround 3, Tunisia are set to play Panama.
Key midfielder Mohamed Amine Ben Amor (£5.0m) hasn’t featured in any of the World Cup warm-up starting line-ups but has recorded 65 minutes of football from two substitute appearances. The Etoile du Sahel man was involved in three goals during the six-match final qualification group, one scored himself and another two assisted. Whether he will return to the first XI for the first game against England is uncertain, but he is an important figure for Tunisia. But if the Eagles of Carthage are only on your radar as a team to invest in for their Gameround 3 fixture with Panama, by that point it may have become clearer whether or not Ben Amor is going to be involved in the starting XI.
Ever-present defender Ali Maaloul (£4.5m) could offer budget value in Tunisia’s back-line. The attack-minded left-back started every single qualifying match and contributed a pair of assists, home and away against Guinea. The 28-year-old was also the provider for Fakhreddine Ben Youssef’s equaliser against Portugal. Maloul is well-acquainted with finding the net too. In 143 league appearances for CS Sfaxien he scored a whopping 56 goals, a record for a defender in the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1.
THE LONG SHOTS
Tunisia’s hopes of an unlikely progression from Group G at the World Cup rest on the shoulders of Wahbi Khazri (£6.5m). After being booed out of Sunderland back in August, the 27-year-old has revitalised his career in France on loan with Rennes. In 29 appearances in all competitions he found the net 11 times and assisted twice, operating successfully as a make-shift centre-forward. That has brought calls for Khazri to do the same for Tunisia at the World Cup. However, he has hardly proved his Fantasy pedigree at international level in the last two years. He started just half of the CAF Group A matches, scoring a penalty against Libya in 2016, and hasn’t registered any minutes in any of the World Cup warm-up matches as he recovers from a muscle fibre injury. But if he can replicate his club form in Russia then at £6.5m he could be an effective differential.
Expected to start on the opposite attacking flank to Badri is Lille’s Naim Sliti (£5.5m), he’s featured from the start in the last three friendlies. Unlike his aforementioned team-mate, he has been classified as a forward by McDonald’s and hasn’t scored for the national team since March 2017. However, he was the top-scorer for Tunisia as they made it to the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations. Sliti found the net twice in Gabon and could prove himself again as a tournament player once again in Russia.
Further Analysis
Our comprehensive World Cup guide can be found here.
Group A – Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group B – Iran, Morocco, Portugal, Spain
Group C – Australia, Peru, France, Denmark
Group D – Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria
Group E – Brazil, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Serbia
Group F – Mexico, Germany, Sweden, South Korea
Group G – Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England
Group H – Senegal, Japan, Poland, Colombia
Our editor’s Fantasy World Cup tips as told to Proper Sport
Fantasy iTeam
Fantasy Football Scout is supporting Fantasy iTeam, a free World Cup game available on a number of mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPodTouch and Android. We have an official Fantasy Football Scout League open to UK users only, with a £1000 of Amazon vouchers to give out, split between the top three performers. There’s also the small matter of £10k worth of prizes available in the main competitions: Overall World Championship and Manager of the Gameround.
Click here for details and here to sign up.
Our League name is Fantasy Football Scout and the pin is 1887.
Please note, users must be over 18 and based in the UK to join our league.
World Cup Data
We’re delighted to offer World Cup data as an early addition to our regular season offering to help those playing Fantasy games over the summer.
We’ve secured Opta data, not only for the tournament itself, which begins on June 14 but also from the Qualifying Rounds for Europe and South America and for international friendlies involving the participating nations. This includes all the matches played right up to the tournament kick-off.
Just to stress, this World Cup offering comes packaged with the regular Fantasy Football Scout membership.
Check out this new trailer previewing the World Cup content below…
