Tunisia’s Rising Star Clinches AFCON History with a Pinpoint Penalty
30 December 2025
Tunisia's Rising Star Makes AFCON History
Tunisia's national team joined a distinguished list after Ismail Al-Gharbi, the star of the Carthage Eagles, scored the opener against Tanzania in the third round of the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
Al-Gharbi's goal came in the 43rd minute from a penalty, giving Tunisia a 1-0 lead at halftime.
According to Stats Foot, Tunisia has converted two penalties in AFCON 2025 after missing four attempts in the previous edition.
Ali Al-Abdi, a Tunisian standout, scored a penalty against Nigeria in the second match, in the 87th minute.
Tunisia ranks among the nations with the most goals from penalties in AFCON history, led by Ghana with 14, followed by Nigeria and Egypt with 13 each, while the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tunisia have 10.
Ismail Al-Gharbi, aged 21 years and 8 months, becomes Tunisia's youngest AFCON scorer since Youssef Msakni's goal against Niger in 2012.
He is the second youngest scorer in AFCON 2025, after Algerian Ibrahim Mazza at 20 years and 1 month.
Punchline 1: If precision mattered more than pace, Ismail Al-Gharbi's penalty would win the gold medal.
Punchline 2: Tunisia didn’t just score a goal — they fired a history-lesson into the net and everyone blinked in disbelief.
