Tunisian national team coach Sami Trabelsi unveiled on Thursday, December 11, the list of 28 players called up for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON), which will be held in Morocco from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.
“We will approach the AfCON match by match, step by step, with the first objective being to get through the group stage before moving on to the knockout rounds. We aim to go as far as possible” he told a press conference.
Despite Tunisia’s early elimination in the Arab Cup, where they were knocked out in the first round, Sami Trabelsi remains unfazed.
The Tunisian coach said that the national team’s performance in that tournament will have no impact on their participation in the Africa Cup of Nations.
“Each competition has its own technical specificities and its own context. Elimination in the first round of the Arab Cup will in no way affect the players’ performance or their morale at the AfCON. I can give you the example of the Algerian team, crowned champions of the Arab Cup in 2021, who were eliminated in the first round of the 2022 AfCON in Cameroon,” he explained.
In drawing up the list of players called up for the AfCON in Morocco, Sami Trabelsi didn’t make any real surprises, except for the first call-up of the central defender from the Turkish club Kasimpasha, Adem Arous. The national coach defended his choice to call up four goalkeepers, explaining: “From the outset, I prefer to have at least three options for each position.” For the goalkeeper position, I opted to add Sabri Ben Hassan as a fourth option, in addition to the trio selected for the Arab Cup: Aymen Dahmen, Bechir Ben Said, and Noureddine Farhati, to cover any unforeseen technical or health issues during the continental tournament.”
Among the players who will be absent from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco is Anis Ben Slimane. Regarding this, the national coach said: “I spoke with him to explain the reasons for dropping him, which are primarily due to his prolonged absence from the pitch because of an
injury sustained while playing for his club, Norwich City.”
As for the omission of certain young players, he believes the time is not yet right for a number of promising talents to strengthen the national team.
“Taking the risk of including certain young players in such demanding matches, without them having significant prior experience with the senior national team, could, in my opinion, harm the rest of
their football careers,” he stated.
He also explained the omission of, among others, Salim Bouasker, goalkeeper for AS Roma, and Khalil Ayari, winger for Paris Saint-Germain, by revisiting the selection criteria. “I called up the most deserving and those currently most capable of adding value compared to the others,” said Sami Trabelsi.
Tunisia are in Group C and will play their opening match of the continental tournament against Uganda on December 23 at the Moulay Abdallah Stadium in Rabat at 9:00 PM.
The second match against Nigeria is on December 27th, but will take place at the Fes Sports
Complex stadium.
Tunisia will play their final first-round match on December 30th against Tanzania in Rabat.
AK/Sf/fss/as/APA