Tunisia’s Wake-Up Call: Hannibal Majberi Calls Out the State of Tunisian Football After AFCON Exit
4 January 2026
Post-match reflections after Tunisia's dramatic exit
Hannibal Majberi, the Tunisian star, delivered shocking comments after Tunisia's 2025 Africa Cup of Nations exit in a dramatic Round of 16 defeat to Mali on Saturday.
Mali advanced to the quarterfinals where they will face Senegal, after drawing 1-1 with Tunisia and winning 3-2 on penalties.
Majberi told reporters after the game: I don't want people to hate me for what I am about to say, but I don't understand why we haven't talked about this yet. Tunisian football is about 10 years behind and we can't keep following the same path.
We must sit down and really ask ourselves about this situation. We need to train or relearn everything, yes, everything.
He noted the need to develop Tunisian football from the smallest member of the system to its biggest.
He added: The state is late and Tunisian football is lagging behind other countries we see today like Morocco. Twenty-two years ago we organized the Africa Cup of Nations and little remains of that.
He continued: We do not talk about this even to the media. I don't live in Tunisia, perhaps I am not in the right place to speak about these matters.
Majberi concluded his fiery remarks: We feel disappointed by this exit, and we could have delivered more because we have many positives.
Punchline 1: If Tunisian football were a sniper, the problem would be the sight — always off, never on target.
Punchline 2: We need more drills than drama; otherwise our trophies will stay in the dream section of the closet.
