Tunisia men's national handball team

Tunisia men's national handball team
Medal record
Representing Tunisia
Handball
African Championship
African Games
Mediterranean Games
Pan Arab Games

Tunisia
Tunisia
Information
Nickname	The eagles of Carthage; (نسور قرطاج)
Association	Tunisian Handball Federation
Coach	Patrick Cazal
Assistant coach	Wissem Hmam; Mohamed Riadh Sanaa
Most caps	Issam Tej (316)
Most goals	Oussama Boughanmi (865)
Colours
1st	2nd
Results
Summer Olympics
Appearances	4 (First in 1972)
Best result	8th (2012)
World Championship
Appearances	16 (First in 1967)
Best result	4th (2005)
African Championship
Appearances	26 (First in 1974)
Best result	1st (1974, 1976, 1979, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2018)
	Last updated on Unknown.

The Tunisian national handball team (Arabic: منتخب تونس لكرة اليد), nicknamed Les Aigles de Carthage (The Eagles of Carthage or The Carthage Eagles), is the national handball team of Tunisia. It is governed by the Tunisian Handball Federation and takes part in international handball competitions.

The Tunisian Handball League was established in 1953. In 1957, the Tunisian Handball Federation was founded and was later admitted into the International Handball Federation in 1962.

The Tunisian national handball team has participated in handball world championships. In 2005 Tunisia finished in 4th place; becoming the second non-European team to reach the World Championship semi-finals after Egypt who was able to reach the semi-final match in 2001. The Tunisian national handball team won the African Nations Championship for a record 10 times (1974, 1976, 1979, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2018). The Tunisians won the 2018 African Championship in Gabon by defeating Egypt in the final match.

History

Tunisia is the most successful team in the African Nations Championship with ten titles won in 1974, 1976, 1979, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2018, and played in the final eight times in 1985, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2016 and 2020. They also won a bronze medal six times in 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 2000.

At the World Championships, in 2005 it obtained the best performance obtained by an African country, a fourth place, thus equaling Egypt (place obtained in 2001).

During the 2005–06 season, Heykel Megannem was voted the best player in the French championship, with Wissem Hmam and Issam Tej also being in the standard team, respectively as left-back and pivot.

Following the 2009 world championship, the federation sidelined Issam Tej for "indiscipline, insolence and recidivism" and Makram Missaoui for "having refused to resume play against Poland", while Maher Kraiem was suspended for three months for “misconduct”.

The team is coached by the Croatian Sead Hasanefendić until June 2008, before being replaced by the Serb Zoran Živković from 24 October 2008. However, the federation dismisses him following the poor performance of the team during the 2009 world championship. He was replaced by the Tunisian Sayed Ayari and then, in June 2009, by the Frenchman Alain Portes, who signed a three-year contract.

In 2013, Alain Portes' contract was not being renewed, so he took over from Olivier Krumbholz at the head of the French women's team and was replaced by Sead Hasanefendić, back at the head of the national team for the following three seasons. In 2020, coach Toni Gerona is dismissed.

Infrastructure

The El Menzah Sports Palace, built in 1967, is the hall of the national team. Built for the 2005 World Men's Handball Championship, of which it hosted the final and all of Tunisia's matches, the Salle Omnisport de Radès now hosted most of the national team's matches.

Honours

Official competitions

African Nations Championship

Champions (10) : 1974, 1976, 1979, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2018
Runners-up: 1985, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2016, 2020
Third Place: 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 2000, 2024

African Games

Runners-up: 1978
Third Place: 1965, 2007

Mediterranean Games

Runners-up: 2001, 2018
Third Place: 1967, 1979, 2005, 2009

Pan Arab Games

Champions: 1985
Third Place: 1992, 2011

Minor tournaments

World cup

Runners-up: 2006

Yellow Cup

Champions: 2007, 2015, 2016, 2019
Runners-up: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2020
Third Place: 2008, 2010

Paris Ile-de-France tournament

Champions: 2005
Third Place: 1998, 2002, 2007, 2013

Championnat maghrébin des nations

Champions : 1969, 1971, 1973

Tunisia international tournament

Champions: 2015, 2017, 2021

Four Nations Cup Poland

Champions: 2021, 2022

Challenge Marrane

Champions: 2008

Four Nations Tournament

Runners-up: 2015

Air Caraïbes Cup

Runners-up: 2019

Spain international tournament

Third Place: 1999, 2002, 2012

Three Nations Cup Tunisia

Champions: 2023

Competitive record

Champions Runners-up Third place Fourth place

Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Olympic Games

Tunisia in the Olympic Games
Games	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1936 Berlin	did not enter
Not held from 1948 to 1968
1972 Munich	Match for 15th place	16th of 16	5	0	0	5	72	118	−46
1976 Montreal	Withdrawn after two games
1980 Moscow	did not qualify
1984 Los Angeles
1988 Seoul
1992 Barcelona
1996 Atlanta
2000 Sydney	Match for 9th place	10th of 12	6	1	0	5	130	141	−11
2004 Athens	did not qualify
2008 Beijing	did not qualify
2012 London	Quarter-finals	8th of 12	6	2	0	4	144	150	−6
2016 Rio de Janeiro	Group stage	12th of 12	5	0	1	4	118	145	−27
2020 Tokyo	did not qualify
2024 Paris	did not qualify
Total	4/15	0 Titles	22	3	1	18	464	554	−90

World Championship

Tunisia in the World Championships
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L
1938	did not enter
1954
1958
1961
1964
1967	Group stage	15th	3	0	0	3
1970	did not enter
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1993
1995	Quarter-finals	15th	7	2	0	5
1997	Quarter-finals	16th	6	2	0	4
1999	Quarter-finals	12th	6	2	1	3
2001	Quarter-finals	10th	6	3	0	3
2003	Quarter-finals	14th	7	2	0	5
2005	Semi-final	4th	10	5	3	2
2007	Quarter-finals	11th	8	3	0	5
2009	Group stage	17th	9	5	0	4
2011	Group stage	20th	7	1	0	6
2013	Quarter-finals	11th	6	3	0	3
2015	Quarter-finals	15th	6	2	1	3
2017	Group stage	19th	7	2	2	3
/ 2019	Main round	12th	8	3	0	5
2021	Presidents Cup	25th	7	4	1	2
/ 2023	Presidents Cup	25th	7	4	1	2
// 2025	qualified
2027	to be determined
/ 2029
// 2031
Total		17/21	104	41	8	55

Tunisia did not compete From 1938 to 1964 and 1970 to 1993.
Red border color indicates tournament was held on home :soil.

African Championship

Tunisia in the African Championship
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L
1974	Champions	1st	3	3	0	0
1976	Champions	1st	4	4	0	0
1979	Champions	1st	5	5	0	0
1981	Third place	3rd	3	2	1	0
1983	Third place	3rd	6	4	0	2
1985	Runners-up	2nd	5	3	0	2
1987	Third place	3rd	5	3	0	2
1989	Third place	3rd	5	3	0	2
1991	Third place	3rd	6	3	1	2
1992	Runners-up	2nd	5	3	1	1
1994	Champions	1st	6	6	0	0
1996	Runners-up	2nd	6	5	0	1
1998	Champions	1st	6	5	0	1
2000	Third place	3rd	6	3	1	2
2002	Champions	1st	5	5	0	0
2004	Runners-up	2nd	7	6	0	1
2006	Champions	1st	7	7	0	0
2008	Runners-up	2nd	5	4	0	1
2010	Champions	1st	8	8	0	0
2012	Champions	1st	8	8	0	0
2014	Runners-up	2nd	8	7	0	1
2016	Runners-up	2nd	8	7	0	1
2018	Champions	1st	7	6	1	0
2020	Runners-up	2nd	7	6	0	1
2022	Fourth place	4th	5	3	0	2
2024	Third place	3rd	6	5	0	1
Total	10 Titles	26/26	152	124	5	23

African Games

Tunisia in the African Games
Games	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1965 Brazzaville	Semi-final	3rd of 8
1973 Lagos	did not participate
1978 Algiers	Final	2nd of 6
1987 Nairobi	did not participate
1991 Cairo	did not participate
1995 Harare	withdrew
1999 Johannesburg	did not participate
2003 Abuja	did not participate
2007 Algiers	Semi-final	3rd of 7
2011 Maputo	did not participate
2015 Brazzaville	did not participate
2019 Rabat	did not participate
Total	3/12	0 Titles

Mediterranean Games

Tunisia in the Mediterranean Games
Games	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1967 Tunis	Third place	3rd of 3
1971 İzmir	Tournament canceled
1975 Algiers	4th place	4th of 5
1979 Split	Third place	3rd of 7
1983 Casablanca	4th place	4th of 8
1987 Latakia	did not participate
1991 Athens	did not participate
1993 Languedoc-Roussillon	did not participate
1997 Bari	Eighth place	8th of 13
2001 Tunis	Runners-up	2nd of 8
2005 Almería	Third place	3rd of 10
2009 Pescara	Third place	3rd of 9	6	4	0	2	166	161	+5
2013 Mersin	Seven Place	7th of 10	5	2	1	2	142	130	+12
2018 Tarragona	Runners-up	2nd of 13	5	4	0	1	154	127	+27
2022 Oran	Fifth Place	5th of 10	5	3	0	2	138	129	+9
Total	11/14	0 Title

Pan Arab Games

Tunisia in the Pan Arab Games
Games	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1961 Casablanca	did not participate
1965 Cairo	did not participate
1976 Damascus	did not participate
1985 Rabat	Final	Champions
1992 Damascus	Semi-final	Third place
1997 Beirut	Tournament canceled
1999 Amman	did not participate
2004 Algiers	Tournament canceled
2007 Cairo	did not participate
2011 Doha	Semi-final	Third place
Total	3/10	1 Titles

Other records

Other records
Year	Round	Position
1969 Maghreb Nations Championship	Final	Champions
1971 Maghreb Nations Championship	Final	Champions
1973 Maghreb Nations Championship	Final	Champions
1998 Paris Ile-de-France tournament	Semi-final	Third place
1999 Spain international tournament	Semi-final	Third place
2002 Paris Ile-de-France tournament	Semi-final	Third place
2002 Yellow Cup	Final	Runners-up
2002 Spain international tournament	Semi-final	Third place
2003 Yellow Cup	Final	Runners-up
2004 Yellow Cup	Final	Runners-up
2005 Paris Ile-de-France tournament	Final	Champions
2006 World cup	Final	Runners-up
2007 Paris Ile-de-France tournament	Semi-final	Third place
2007 Yellow Cup	Final	Champions
2008 Challenge Marrane	Final	Champions
2008 Yellow Cup	Semi-final	Third place
2010 Yellow Cup	Semi-final	Third place
2012 Spain international tournament	Semi-final	Third place
2013 Paris Ile-de-France tournament	Semi-final	Third place
2015 Yellow Cup	Final	Champions
2015 Tunisia international tournament	Final	Champions
2015 Four Nations Tournament	Final	Runners-up
2016 Yellow Cup	Final	Champions
2017 Tunisia international tournament	Final	Champions
2019 Yellow Cup	Final	Champions
2019 Air Caraïbes Cup	Final	Runners-up
2020 Yellow Cup	Final	Runners-up
2021 Tunisia international tournament	Final	Champions
2021 Four Nations Cup Poland	Final	Champions
2022 Four Nations Cup Poland	Final	Champions

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship.^[1]^[2]

Head coach: Patrick Cazal

No.	Pos.	Name	Date of birth (age)	Height	App.	Goals	Club
1	GK	Assil Nemli	(2000-09-01) 1 September 2000 (age 24)	2.00 m	6	1	Espérance de Tunis
6	P	Ghazi Ben Ghali	(1999-03-28) 28 March 1999 (age 25)	1.98 m	21	18	Étoile du Sahel
10	CB	Bilel Abdelli	(1995-08-04) 4 August 1995 (age 29)	1.90 m	19	39	Espérance de Tunis
17	LB	Oussama Rmiki	(1996-10-08) 8 October 1996 (age 28)	1.92 m	2	2	Club Africain
22	LB	Youssef Maaraf	(1996-07-21) 21 July 1996 (age 28)	1.95 m	52	87	Al Arabi
25	CB	Abdelhak Ben Salah	(1990-04-25) 25 April 1990 (age 34)	1.84 m	58	120	Espérance de Tunis
27	RW	Issam Rzig	(1989-09-14) 14 September 1989 (age 35)	1.81 m	49	180	Étoile du Sahel
28	LB	Hazem Bacha	(2001-12-08) 8 December 2001 (age 22)	2.05 m	18	33	Espérance de Tunis
29	RW	Tarek Jallouz	(1993-11-01) 1 November 1993 (age 31)	1.83 m	22	35	Espérance de Tunis
55	LW	Ghassen Toumi	(1997-06-14) 14 June 1997 (age 27)	1.84 m	33	70	Espérance de Tunis
57	RB	Noureddine Maoua	(1998-09-05) 5 September 1998 (age 26)	1.86 m	23	24	Al Salmiya
61	GK	Yassine Belkaied	(2000-10-19) 19 October 2000 (age 24)	1.97 m	17	2	RK Celje
69	P	Jihed Jaballah	(1989-07-29) 29 July 1989 (age 35)	2.04 m	103	211	Al-Kuwait SC
71	CB	Mohamed Darmoul	(1998-02-04) 4 February 1998 (age 26)	1.83 m	44	145	GWD Minden
94	GK	Mehdi Harbaoui	(1996-09-11) 11 September 1996 (age 28)	1.96 m	27	0	CD Bidasoa
96	RB	Anouar Ben Abdallah	(1996-06-20) 20 June 1996 (age 28)	1.88 m	50	73	Kazma
98	P	Islem Jbeli	(1998-12-13) 13 December 1998 (age 25)	1.93 m	12	13	Espérance de Tunis

Head coaches

Period	Head Coach	Honours
1957–1962	Yves Boulogne	—
1962	Michel Djulizibaric	—
1962–1966	Mohamed Louahchy	—
1966–1968	Constantin Popa & Haralambie Firan	—
1968–1972	Haralambie Firan	—
1973–1975	Ion Popescu	1974
1976–1979	Saïd Amara	1976
1979–1982	Hachemi Razgallah	1979
1982–1983	Guennadi Antchenko	1981
1983–1985	Reiner Ganschow	1983 1985
1985–1987	Sayed Ayari	1987 1989
1987–1989	Moncef Hajjar	—
1989–1990	Saïd Amara	—
1990–1991	Lamjed Amroussi	1991
1991–1994	Hachemi Razgallah	1992
1994–1996	Sayed Ayari & Saïd Amara	1994 1996 1998
1996–1997	Saïd Amara	—
1997	Brahim Agrebi	—
1997–1998	Noureddine Ben Ameur	—
1998–2003	Sayed Ayari & Saïd Amara	2000 2002
2003	Sayed Ayari	—
2004	Zoran Živković	2004
2004–2008	Sead Hasanefendić	2006 2008
2008–2009	Zoran Živković	—
2009	Sayed Ayari	—
2009–2014	Alain Portes	2010 2012
2014–2015	Sead Hasanefendić	2014
2015–2016	Sylvain Nouet	2016
2016–2017	Hafedh Zouabi	—
2017–2020	Toni Gerona	2018 2020
2020–2022	Sami Saïdi	—
2022–	Patrick Cazal	2024

Notable players

References

^ "Mondial Pologne/Suède 2023 : la liste de la Tunisie pour le mondial" (in French). handball.tn. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
^ "Team Roster Tunisia" (PDF). ihf.info. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.

External links

Tunisian Handball (in French)
IHF profile

[1] "Mondial Pologne/Suède 2023 : la liste de la Tunisie pour le mondial" (in French). handball.tn. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.

[2] "Team Roster Tunisia" (PDF). ihf.info. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.

[1]

[2]