Preview: Tunisia vs Uganda - prediction, team news, lineups

Tunisia will get their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations exertions started against Uganda at Stade Olympique Annexe Complexe Sportif Prince Abdellah on Tuesday.

With only one Africa Cup of Nations triumph in their history, the Carthage Eagles will be looking to secure their second title in Morocco, and their foes will face a stern test in their first match of the competition.

Match preview

Tunisia enter the 2025 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations as one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

The North Africans have won the title once, when they hosted in 2004, but their fans will be confident of their chances, considering the strong form they have shown leading up to this competition.

Although their qualification for this tournament did not go as expected, finishing second in their qualifying group, surprisingly behind Comoros, they were almost immaculate in booking their place at next year’s World Cup with nine victories and a draw in 10 games.

Nevertheless, Sami Trabelsi and his charges will be cautiously optimistic going into this competition, as they were eliminated in the first round of the 2023 edition after two draws and a loss.

While they were impressive with their defensive record during their World Cup qualifying campaign, with no goals conceded, they have been breached in six of their last seven matches across all competitions.

Meanwhile, Uganda enter this competition in impressive form, with four wins and two losses in their last encounters; however, their preparations have not been the best.

The East Africans are plagued by administrative issues, derailing their plans in the build-up to the tournament.

The Cranes of Uganda finished as runners-up in 1978, when they lost 2–0 to Ghana, but they have not done much at the competition in recent times.

The Ugandans reached the round of 16 in 2019, and matching that or going further will be the aim of Paul Put.

Nevertheless, victories have come at a premium for the Cranes, with a 2–0 success over DR Congo in their opening match of 2019 being their only win at Africa’s showpiece competition since 1978, when they reached the final.

To make matters worse, the Ugandans have lost their last six head-to-head meetings against Tunisia, and that could be a psychological advantage for the North Africans.

Tunisia form (all competitions):

Uganda form (all competitions):

Team News

Sami Trabelsi will be counting on the fine form of Augsburg midfielder Elias Saad, who has four goal contributions in his last six appearances for the Carthage Eagles.

Ellyes Skhiri and Hannibal Mejbri were recalled for the Africa Cup of Nations, but they are not expected to feature prominently in the campaign.

The manager kept faith with most of the players who were in the November internationals.

Yassine Meriah, Dylan Bronn, Ali Maaloul and Ali Abdi were also named in the travelling party to Morocco.

For Uganda, veteran goalkeeper Denis Onyango was named in Paul Put’s squad, and he is likely to be the number one choice for the Cranes.

Allan Okello also made the squad, and he will be one of the men to carry the aspirations of his country at this year’s AFCON.

Tunisia possible starting lineup:

Dahmen; Meriah, Bronn, Valery, Talbi, Abdi; Sassi, Gharbi, Ouanes; Saad, Mastouri

Uganda possible starting lineup:

Onyango; Sibbick, Mukundane, Obita, Herbert; Semakula, Aucho; Lorenzen, Ikpeazu, Okello; Mukwala

We say: Tunisia 3-1 Uganda

Tunisia are the favourites and, given the form they have shown in the last few years, it is hard to argue against them winning. As a result, we are backing the North Africans to win 3-1.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.