Tunisia celebration

Tunisia knew they were a long shot at advancing to the knockout stage of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, especially when they had to beat the defending World Cup champs. The good news for Tunisia was that they beat France. The bad news was that it still wasn’t enough to advance.

It helped that France made nine changes to their starting XI, so they were taking a risk by fielding a reserve squad to rest players for the knockout stage. So this Tunisian upset against France wasn’t as monumental as if they had been playing the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann, and Ousmane Dembélé for 90+ minutes. That being said, I’m sure all Tunisia cared about at the moment was the three points.

After a scoreless first half, Tunisia broke through in the 58th minute thanks to a Wahbi Khazri goal.

Things got wild at the end of the match. After Tunisia held on for nearly 98 minutes, Griezmann equalized for France in the final seconds. It was a heartbreaking blow to Tunisia, and some of their fans were in tears. But after a VAR check, Griezmann was found to be offside in the buildup of the goal, and Tunisia got the 1-0 win.

That put Tunisia at four points, and if Australia and Denmark drew, Tunisia would’ve finished second. Instead, Australia scored about the same time Tunisia did and got their own 1-0 win against Denmark to keep their second spot.

With France winning the group and Australia finishing second, Australia is a potential quarterfinal opponent for the United States if the USMNT were to defeat the Netherlands. Australia’s opponent will be the Group C winner, either Poland, Argentina, or Saudi Arabia.

Many praised Tunisia’s gameplay even though they failed to advance. They gave it a great shot and did everything they could; sometimes, things happen that are out of your control.

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @phillipbupp