The Tunisia national football team manager was first established in 1956 following the appointment of the country's first national team manager Rachid Turki.[1] Thirty-six men have occupied the post since its inception; three of those were in short-term caretaker manager roles: Faouzi Benzarti in two terms (one game in charge in 1994 and four games in 2010), Sami Trabelsi (six games in 2011 until he was appointed full-time) and Ruud Krol (two games).[2]
Roger Lemerre held the position for the longest to date with a tenure of six years leading the team in 67 matches, more than any other manager in Tunisia's history.[3] He is also the most successful manager after winning the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations, reaching 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup and qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Yugoslav coach Milan Kristić became the first foreign manager of the team in 1960.[4] France has the largest number of managers to have coached Tunisia, with six managers. The current coach is Jalel Kadri since 30 January 2022.[5]
Position
Role
The Tunisia manager's role means he has sole responsibility for all on-the-field elements of the Tunisian team. Among other activities, this includes selecting the national team squad, the starting team, captain, tactics, substitutes and penalty-takers.
The coach has a relative freedom to choose his staff as some of coaches refused to coach the Tunisian national team due to the Tunisian Football Federation’s refusal to appoint foreign assistant coaches. This was the case with Jacques Santini in 2008 and Raymond Domenech. However, the Tunisian Football Federation agreed to Henryk Kasperczak's proposal in 2015 to appoint Frenchman Patrick Hesse to the team.
Appointment
The process of appointing a new Tunisia manager is undertaken by a FTF committee, which is composed of board members and other high-ranking FTF officials. Every time this process is subject to controversy because the committee includes former coaches who did not succeed with the national team, such as Youssef Zouaoui and Mokhtar Tlili.
List
As of 10 January 2024 after match against 
Cape Verde.
| Manager | Nat | Period | Pld | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win% | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rachid Turki | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
1956–1957 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00% | — |
| Habib Draoua (DTN) Hechmi Cherif Larbi Soudani |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
1957–1960 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 46.67% | — |
| Milan Kristić | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
1960–1961 | 23 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 21.74% |  1960 Summer Olympic Games – Group stage 1962 FIFA World Cup – Failed to qualify |
| Frane Matošić | |
1961–1962 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 16.67% | 1962 Africa Cup of Nations – Third place |
| André Gérard | |
1963–1965 | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 44.12% | 1963 Arab Cup – Champions |
| Mokhtar Ben Nacef | |
1965–1968 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 33.33% | 1965 Africa Cup of Nations – Runners-up 1968 Africa Cup of Nations – Failed to qualify |
| Radojica Radojičić | |
1968–1970 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 22.22% | — |
| Sereta Begović | |
1969 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0.00% | 1970 FIFA World Cup – Failed to qualify |
| Ameur Hizem (1) | |
1970–1974 | 33 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 48.48% | 1974 FIFA World Cup – Failed to qualify |
| André Nagy |  |
1974–1975 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 40.00% | — |
| Abdelmajid Chetali | |
1975–1978 | 52 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 34.61% | 1976 Africa Cup of Nations – Failed to qualify 1978 Africa Cup of Nations – Fourth Place 1978 FIFA World Cup – Group stage |
| Ameur Hizem (2) | |
1978–1979 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 33.33% | — |
| Hmid Dhib | |
1979–1980 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 21.43% | 1982 FIFA World Cup – Failed to qualify |
| Ryszard Kulesza |  |
1981–1983 | 25 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 40.00% | 1982 Africa Cup of Nations – Group stage 1984 Africa Cup of Nations – Failed to qualify |
| Youssef Zouaoui (1) | |
1984–1986 | 26 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 54.16% | 1986 Africa Cup of Nations – Failed to qualify 1986 FIFA World Cup – Failed to qualify |
| Jean Vincent |  |
1986–1987 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10.00% | 1988 Africa Cup of Nations – Failed to qualify |
| Taoufik Ben Othman | |
1987–1988 | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 25.00% | — |
| Antoni Piechniczek (1) | |
1988 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 33.33% | 1988 Summer Olympic Games – Group stage |
| Mokhtar Tlili | |
1988–1989 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 21.43% | 1990 Africa Cup of Nations – Failed to qualify |
| Antoni Piechniczek (2) | |
1989 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 25.00% | 1990 FIFA World Cup – Failed to qualify |
| Mrad Mahjoub | |
1990–1993 | 26 | 8 | 13 | 5 | 30.77% | 1992 Africa Cup of Nations – Failed to qualify 1994 FIFA World Cup – Failed to qualify |
| Youssef Zouaoui (2) | |
1993–1994 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 30.77% | — |
| Faouzi Benzarti (1) | |
1994 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00% | 1994 Africa Cup of Nations – Group stage |
| Henryk Kasperczak (1) | |
1994–1998 | 59 | 30 | 11 | 18 | 50.84% | 1996 Africa Cup of Nations – Runners-up 1996 Summer Olympic Games – Group stage 1998 Africa Cup of Nations – Quarter-finals 1998 FIFA World Cup – Group stage |
| Francesco Scoglio |  |
1998–2001 | 32 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 59.73% | 2000 Africa Cup of Nations – Fourth Place |
| Eckhard Krautzun |  |
2001 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 57.14% | 2002 FIFA World Cup – Group stage |
| Henri Michel | |
2001–2002 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 33.33% | 2002 Africa Cup of Nations – Group stage |
| Ammar Souayah |  |
2002 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.00% | — |
| Roger Lemerre | |
2002–2008 | 67 | 40 | 15 | 12 | 59.70% | 2004 Africa Cup of Nations – Champions 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup – Group stage 2006 Africa Cup of Nations – Quarter-finals 2006 FIFA World Cup – Group stage 2008 Africa Cup of Nations – Quarter-finals |
| Humberto Coelho |  |
2008–2009 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 33.33% | 2009 African Nations Championship – Failed to qualify 2010 FIFA World Cup – Failed to qualify |
| Faouzi Benzarti (2) | |
2009–2010 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.00% | 2010 Africa Cup of Nations – Group stage |
| Bertrand Marchand | |
2010 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 50.00% | — |
| Sami Trabelsi | |
2010–2013 | 32 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 40.63% | 2011 African Nations Championship – Champions 2012 Africa Cup of Nations – Quarter-finals 2013 Africa Cup of Nations – Group stage |
| Nabil Maâloul (1) | |
2013 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 28.57% | 2014 African Nations Championship – Failed to qualify |
| Ruud Krol |  |
2013 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00% | 2014 FIFA World Cup – Failed to qualify |
| Georges Leekens | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
2014–2015 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 36.84% | 2015 Africa Cup of Nations – Quarter-finals |
| Henryk Kasperczak (2) | |
2015–2017 | 26 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 46.15% | 2016 African Nations Championship – Quarter-finals 2017 Africa Cup of Nations – Quarter-finals |
| Nabil Maâloul (2) | |
2017–2018 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 46.15% | 2018 FIFA World Cup – Group stage |
| Faouzi Benzarti (3) | |
2018 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | — |
| Alain Giresse | |
2018–2019 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 41.67% | 2019 Africa Cup of Nations – Fourth Place |
| Mondher Kebaier | |
2019–2022 | 31 | 19 | 4 | 8 | 61.29% | 2020 African Nations Championship – Qualified but withdrew 2021 FIFA Arab Cup – Runners-up 2021 Africa Cup of Nations – Quarter-finals |
| Jalel Kadri | |
2022–present | 24 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 58.33% | 2022 FIFA World Cup – Group stage 2023 Africa Cup of Nations – Qualified |
Statistics
| Nat | Manager | Stats | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First coach | |
Rachid Turki | 1956 |
| Longest period | |
Roger Lemerre | 5 years, 280 days |
| Shortest period | |
Faouzi Benzarti (1) | 4 days |
| Most matches | |
Roger Lemerre | 67 matches |
| Less matches | |
Faouzi Benzarti (1) | 1 match |
| Most wins | |
Roger Lemerre | 40 wins |
| Most defeats | |
Henryk Kasperczak (1) | 18 defeats |
| Highest win% | |
Faouzi Benzarti (3) | 100.00% |
| Lowest win% | |
Sereta Begović Ammar Souayah Faouzi Benzarti (1&2) Ruud Krol |
0.00% |
Coaches by nationality
| Country | Managers |
|---|---|
| Tunisia |
17 |
| France |
6 |
| Poland |
3 |
| Yugoslavia | |
 Algeria |
1 |
| Belgium | |
 Croatia | |
| Germany | |
| Hungary | |
| Italy | |
| Netherlands | |
| Portugal |
References
- ↑ "Tunisia National Team Coaches". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
- ↑ "Portail internet de la Fédération Tunisienne de Football". Archived from the original on 2009-05-23. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ↑ "Lemerre sacked as Tunisia coach". Jp.soccerway.com. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
- ↑ "Entraîneurs Nationaux" (in French). Tunisian Football Federation. Archived from the original on 22 October 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ↑ "Tunisia appoint Jalel Kadri as new coach after dismissing Mondher Kebaier". 31 January 2022.
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