Tunisia and Namibia will kick off their campaign at the ongoing delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cote d’Ivoire when they face-off at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium on Tuesday.
Tunisia are in the hunt for their first continental title in two decades. They won their first and only title as hosts in 2004, and their best outing since then was a fourth-place finish in 2006 and 2019.
Namibia, on the other hand, are on a quest to get past the group stages for the first time in history. This will be their fourth appearance at the tournament, they finished last in their groups in their last three appearances and It’ll be interesting to see how far the Brave Warriors can go.
Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles are playing in the group stage for the 16th consecutive edition of the competition. They have made it to the quarter-finals in the last four editions of the competition and will look to keep that run alive. With South Africa and Mali being the two other teams in Group E, they are strong favourites to finish as group toppers.
Namibia failed to qualify for the previous edition of the tournament after being eliminated from the group stage in 2019. In that edition, they suffered defeats in all three games during the group stage, scoring just once while conceding six goals.
Head to head and current form
Tunisia and Namibia first met in April 1997, in the qualifying rounds of the France 98 FIFA World Cup. These teams have clashed a total of three times, and Tunisia have a perfect record in those encounters.
However, it’s important to note that the most recent clash between these teams was in 2007. This will also be the first time these outfits square off against each other at the AFCON.
The 2004 champions are unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions and have kept clean sheets in these matches as well. Tunisia recorded a 2-0 win in a friendly over Cape Verde on Wednesday.
Namibia have just one win in their last eight games across all competitions and in their friendly against Ghana on Tuesday, they played out a goalless draw.
