AFCON 2023 Preview: Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in tight race against Namibia

Posted : 16 January 2024

The first match between the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia and Namibia will take place on Tuesday evening in Korhogo, Ivory Coast, as both teams kick off their 2024 Africa Cup of Nations campaign.

Since winning their first AFCON title in 2004, Tunisia has been a force to be reckoned with in this competition. That is not to say that they have won another title since then, but in the last ten editions, the country has only been eliminated twice in the group stage.

Namibia, meanwhile, is making another rare appearance at the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Brave Warriors will compete in the competition for only the fourth time in their history, and in the previous three occasions, they were eliminated in the group stage.

Head coach Collin Benjamin will be hoping his boys can change that this time around, but the nation's recent form does not look good - one win in the last eight games.

Tunisia finished their qualifying campaign top of their group, and some credit must go to their defense. Jalal Qaderi's side conceded just one goal in six matches and enters this game with four clean sheets from their last four games. The last three matches all ended with under 2.5 goals.

Namibia has also struggled to score goals in recent matches. The Namibians failed to score in four of their last five games, and bets on under 2.5 goals were won in all five fixtures.

Tuesday’s game will be the first meeting between these two nations since 2007 when they played in a friendly. Tunisia won that game 2-0, and we are expecting a similar result on Tuesday evening.

Tunisia head coach Jalal Qaderi is unlikely to make many changes to the side that defeated Malawi in World Cup 2026 qualifying back in November.

Youssef Msakni has scored four goals in his last three competitive matches, and the 33-year-old is expected to link up again in the final third with Taha Yassine Khenissi, who made his 50th international appearance last month.

Hadj Mahmoud will miss out through injury, but the defensive midfielder is the only absentee for the Tunisians.

Meanwhile, Prins Tjiueza will be looking to make his mark in the Namibian team after scoring his first international goal in the World Cup qualifier against São Tomé and Príncipe in November.

Captain Ananias Gebhardt will keep his place on the left side of defense, while Marcel Papama, who has only played six international matches, is pushing for a spot in midfield.

AFCON 2023 Preview: Carthage Eagles of Tunisia in tight race against Namibia

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