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Tunisia announced their 2026 World Cup squad on May 15. It is a document that reads like a generational handover more than a team selection. Of the players who represented the Carthage Eagles at Qatar 2022, only six remain: Montassar Talbi, Dylan Bronn, Hannibal Mejbri, Ellyes Skhiri, Ali Abdi, and Anis Ben Slimane. That retention rate, confirmed by Pan Africa Football and beIN Sports, tells you precisely what Sabri Lamouchi is doing. He is not managing a transition. He is accelerating one.
Lamouchi took over in March 2026 following the departure of Sami Trabelsi. He has been in charge for less than three months. The World Cup squad he has named is his first major tournament statement, and the boldness of it is clear from the omissions alone. Ferjani Sassi, who has played 77 times for Tunisia and was a foundational figure in their midfield for a decade, is not in the squad. Former captain Yassine Meriah is absent. Veteran winger Naim Sliti, a regular across multiple qualification campaigns, is out. These are not fitness decisions. They are strategic ones.
Who Lamouchi Is Building Around
Ellyes Skhiri is the anchor. The Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder has been Tunisia's most important player for three successive tournaments and his role as captain and tactical organiser is undiminished by the generational shift around him. Skhiri's ball recovery, passing range, and leadership give Lamouchi a reliable foundation from which to build the new structures. Without him, the squad's lack of tournament experience would be genuinely concerning. With him, it has an orientation point.
Khalil Ayari of Paris Saint-Germain is the headline addition. A winger who has progressed through PSG's academy structure and broken into first-team involvement, his inclusion alongside Hannibal Mejbri of Burnley and Rani Khedira of Union Berlin gives the squad a European-based core with regular top-flight exposure. Khedira's participation carries a specific footnote: as reported by beIN Sports, his selection makes him and his brother Sami, the former Germany international and World Cup winner, the third pair of siblings to have represented different nations at a World Cup, alongside the Boateng brothers.
Tunisia did not concede a single goal across their entire qualifying campaign, as confirmed by Africa Soccer. That defensive record is not Lamouchi's achievement, but it is the foundation he inherits. A squad that has shown it can maintain defensive discipline across a full campaign arrives at a World Cup group with Sweden, Japan, and the Netherlands with one clear tactical identity: make it difficult, stay compact, and find moments.
The Group and the Record
Tunisia face Sweden on June 15, Japan on June 21, and the Netherlands on June 26. They have never won a World Cup knockout match across appearances in 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, and 2022. That record is the defining context for everything Lamouchi says publicly between now and the first whistle in June. His stated mission, consistent across multiple pre-squad press conferences, is to take Tunisia through the group stage for the first time in their history.
Sweden are manageable. Japan, who eliminated Germany and Spain at Qatar 2022, are not. The Netherlands, rebuilt under their current setup and carrying genuine depth across all positions, are the group's most challenging opponent. Getting out of Group F requires either beating Sweden convincingly and taking points off one of the other two, or producing a result against Japan or the Netherlands that the squad has shown no evidence of being capable of in tournament football. Lamouchi's squad selection is brave. Whether it is enough for the group he faces is a different question.
One Absence That Stands Out
The squad does not include Louey Ben Farhat, the young Ligue 1 forward who reportedly refused his call-up, as noted by Dailysports. Lamouchi was reportedly furious at the refusal. Ben Farhat's decision, whatever the reasons behind it, removes one of the squad's most promising attacking options at the moment when Tunisia need every forward option available. It is the kind of disruption before a major tournament that a new coach with limited time to prepare can do without. Tunisia travel to Austria on June 1 and face Belgium on June 6 as their final preparation fixtures. The last cut from 27 to 26 follows those matches.
