After the Tunisian national team was eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations by the Malian national team, Tunisian international Hannibal Mejbri made fiery statements in which he strongly criticized the reality of Tunisian football.
Tunisia was on the verge of reaching the quarter-finals, when Firas Chaouat opened the scoring in the 88th minute with a beautiful header, taking advantage of the numerical deficiency among the Malian national team, which played for more than an hour with ten players. However, the joy of the “Eagles of Carthage” did not last long, as the referee awarded a penalty kick for Mali in the last moments of stoppage time, following a handball from defender Meriah inside the penalty area, which Lassen Sinayoko successfully executed, adjusting the score (1-1).
During extra time, the performance did not rise to a great level of excitement, before penalty kicks decided the qualification card for the Malian team, thanks to the brilliance of its goalkeeper Gigi Diarra. With this exclusion, Tunisia bid an early farewell to the competition, a great disappointment to its fans.
After the match, Tunisian coach Sami Trabelsi expressed his frustration, saying in his statements to the media:
“This loss is very painful. “We were close to winning and reaching the quarter-finals, but we did not succeed in achieving that.”
• Al-Majbri: Tunisian football is lagging behind
However, the most controversial statements came from Hannibal Al-Majabri, who was among the best members of the team in the match. The 22-year-old player did not hide his anger, and directed open criticism of the football system in his country, saying in statements reported by the RMC Sport network:
“We are behind in football, and we must say that frankly. We are behind on many things. We must all sit down, all those responsible for Tunisian football, at one table and ask the real questions, because we are really behind. It pains me to talk about this matter, especially since I do not live in Tunisia, and my words may seem hypocritical, but I cannot remain silent. “The situation is sad.”
The Burnley player added:
“We have to work hard and restart everything from scratch, everything. There is great talent in Tunisia, but we are lagging behind. When we see Algeria, Morocco, and the rest of the African countries developing, while we are not progressing, I can’t even find the words to describe it. Where should we start? From our mentality, I think. Perhaps this will raise controversy in Tunisia, but we dream too much and do not work enough. We do not form and do not learn, although learning every day is not a shame, whether in football or outside it. We must all review ourselves, and I am the first among them, and I hope that the situation will change.”
Hannibal Mejbri’s statements sparked a wide wave of interaction and controversy on social media, among those who considered it a sincere cry in the face of a faltering reality, and those who saw it as unprecedented cruelty towards Tunisian football.
