FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Tunisian football is “building the platform to ensure sustained success” as he held talks with newly elected Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) President Moez El Nasri on the fringes of the 14th CAF Extraordinary Congress in Cairo, Egypt.

The FTF joined the FIFA Talent Development Scheme (TDS) in 2023, benefitting from funding to reinforce its girls’ academies, national teams and elite talent development programmes. It received a further USD 250,000 in 2024 to support its player performance monitoring and strengthen the administration and management of TDS projects to maintain their high-quality implementation.

FIFA Forward has also contributed significantly to the FTF’s operational costs as well as those incurred by Tunisia’s national teams since the programme’s inception in 2016. It also helped fund the construction of national team accommodation at the FTF’s elite performance facility and a sports medicine centre, providing the country’s top players with the optimal environment in which to prepare matches.

“What a pleasure it was to meet and congratulate newly elected President of the Tunisian Football Federation, Moez El Nasri, and interact with the federation’s Vice President Hussein Jenayah at the 14th CAF Extraordinary General Assembly,” said the FIFA President, who was accompanied by FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström and Gelson Fernandes, FIFA Deputy Chief Member Associations Officer and Regional Director Africa.

“Tunisia has always had a strong talent pool and with the help of FIFA Forward and the FIFA Talent Development Scheme, the Tunisian Football Federation is building the platform to ensure sustained success. While the men's national team is performing well in terms of qualifying for a third successive FIFA World Cup, Espérance Sportive de Tunis will represent this football-passionate nation in the United States later this year at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025. I assure everyone at the federation of FIFA's full support as we develop football in Tunisia.”

A country with an unquenchable passion for football, fans are getting excited with a clutch of teams performing impressively. Tunisia’s men’s national team head their qualifying group for the FIFA World Cup 26™, which gives them an ideal opportunity of reaching their third successive global showpiece in Canada, Mexico and the United States next year and the country’s seventh overall. Both the men’s and women’s senior teams will play in their respective CAF Africa Cup of Nations tournaments in the coming 12 months, and the men’s U-17 team and women’s U-20 side remain in contention to qualify for the relevant FIFA tournaments in their age categories.

The federation also recognises the need to ensure ongoing development on and off the field across Tunisia.

“Our programme focuses on rejuvenation at the administrative level, modernising the administration of the federation, nurturing youth, and reviving women’s football, beach soccer, and indoor football,” explained President El Nasri following his meeting with Mr Infantino “This is the entire development programme including especially the youth academies, and you will see projects that lead to achievements within the next year.

“(The FIFA President) expressed his joy, happiness, and confidence in the new executive office, as it includes young, capable individuals ready to achieve success for Tunisian football and move past the period of stagnation that Tunisian football has been experiencing. We expressed our passion for football and our hope for success. We also conveyed our confidence in FIFA and FIFA’s confidence in us.”