Tunisia boss apologises to supporters following heavy Belgium loss

Nabil Maaloul has apologised to supporters following Tunisia's 5-2 loss to Belgium and has urged his players to quickly respond to their latest setback.

The Eagles of Carthage followed up their late 2-1 defeat to England by shipping five more at the hands of a rampant Red Devils side at the Spartak Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Tunisia are now on the brink of exiting the World Cup with one game left to play, and Maaloul hopes that the final-game showdown with Panama in five days' time can at least help to restore some pride.

"As expected, it was a very difficult match," he told reporters at his post-match press conference. "Ever since we were drawn into this group we knew Belgium were going to be a tough opponent.

"We would like to apologise to the Tunisian fans who were numerous in the stadium today. However, we did our best and we will try to improve our performance in the future."

Tunisia are now winless in 13 World Cup matches and have lost each of their last four.