Espérance Sportive de Tunis return to the Club World Cup as seasoned continental champions but heavy underdogs on the global stage. Drawn into a daunting group alongside Flamengo, LAFC and Chelsea, can the Red and Yellows punch above their weight and finally make a lasting impact at this tournament?
1) Who will Espérance de Tunis face at the Club World Cup?
Espérance de Tunis have been drawn into Group D and these are their group stage fixtures:
16 June: vs Flamengo. Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia.
20 June: vs LAFC. Geodis Park, Nashville.
24 June: vs Chelsea. Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia.
2) Domestic domination
Espérance Sportive de Tunis are, by an enormous margin, the most successful club in Tunisia. They have won 34 Ligue Professionnelle titles, crowned champions in 21 of the last 28 seasons. For context, Club Africain boast the second most titles, but they have just 13 to their name.
3) Continental success
On top of this, the Red and Yellows have been crowned kings of Africa on four occasions, only Egyptian outfits Al Ahly and Zamalek as well as TP Mazembe from DR Congo can boast more.
Espérance de Tunis' first continental crown came in 1994, before reclaiming the CAF Champions League trophy in 2011. They then went back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, first fighting back following a 3-1 defeat in the first leg in Alexandria to overcome Al Ahly 4-3 on aggregate.
Then, back in 2019, they controversially retained the title against Wydad Casablanca, the Moroccan club walking off the pitch after a perceived referring injustice, as the home team were declared victory in bizarre fashion.
4) Another season of silverware
ES Tunis continued their dominance of Tunisian silverware this season by completing a domestic treble. They ultimately finished four points clear at the top of the Ligue Professionnelle table, having beaten Stade Tunisien 2-0 in the Tunisian Super Cup in Radès back in February.
Last time out, on 1 June, Onuche Ogbelu was the only scorer against the same opposition in the Tunisian Cup Final, thereby claiming a record-extending 16th cup, albeit their first for nine years.
5) How many managers is too many managers?
Despite picking up all this silverware, ES Tunis actually had four different managers throughout this campaign. Miguel Cardoso was sacked in October, after just 26 matches in charge, and then, after Skander Kasri oversaw two fixtures as caretaker, Laurențiu Reghecampf was appointed.
Well, the Romanian lasted a mere 24 matches in the hot seat, also dismissed in March, with Maher Kanzari having been the boss ever since. Thus, since November 2010, the Red and Yellows have had 27 managers who, on average, have lasted a mere 22 matches, with Moïne Chaâbani, who held the position between 2018 and 2021, the only man to oversaw more than 50 games during this period.
6) Past Club World Cup expirence
This summer will be Espérance de Tunis' fourth appearance at the FIFA Club World Cup, although they've had very little to shout about so far. In three attempts, they've never gone beyond the quarter-finals, dumped out by Al-Sadd in 2011, Al Ain in 2018 and Al-Hilal a year later. Thankfully for them, there is no one in Group D with an 'Al' prefix in their name!
To date, their only victories have come in matches for fifth-place, defeating Chivas de Guadalajara via a penalty shootout seven years ago, before their first proper victory came in December 2019, demolishing former adversaries Al-Sadd 6-2 at the Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar.
7) Espérance de Tunis players to watch: Yassine Meriah
Club captain Yassine Meriah remains a key figure at the heart of the Espérance Sportive de Tunis defence but the question does remain; how prominently will he feature this summer?
The 31 year old centre-back has had something of a globetrotting career, representing Olympiacos, Kasımpaşa, Çaykur Rizespor and Al Ain, before returning home in 2022, also winning 87 international caps, including starting all six of Tunisia's World Cup fixtures across 2018 and 2022.
However, this season, Meriah ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament during a CAF Champions League win over Djoliba in November, thereby not featuring until a one minute cameo off the bench in the Tunisian Cup Final on 1 June. Thus, the veteran defender will need to be eased back in, but his timely return could be a major boost.
8) Espérance de Tunis players to watch: Youcef Belaïli
At the other end of the pitch, Youcef Belaïli is likely to be Espérance de Tunis' main man for goals.
The 33 year old Algerian international arrived from MC Alger last summer, and has so far scored 18 goals in just 34 appearances for the Red and Yellows. Nine of these goals came in the Champions League, including a hat-trick against Dekedaha FC, now looking to show the world what he can do.
9) Manager Maher Kanzari: how long will he last?
As already outlined, ES Tunis managers don't tend to last long, so will Maher Kanzari be any different? So far, the 52 year old has had 12 matches at the helm, losing his very first against Mamelodi Sundowns but then winning nine of the subsequent 11, delivering two trophies, so can his team continue this streak stateside this summer?
10) Will ES Tunis get out the group?
Espérance Sportive de Tunis commence their Club World Cup campaign against Flamengo, before taking on Los Angeles FC in Nashville and then returning to Philadelphia to face Chelsea.
That middle fixture in Tennessee is certainly the most winnable of the three, but it would require a major surprise for the Tunisian outfit to reach the knockout stages.