Match build up: Zambia vs Tunisia – head to head record

Zambia will this afternoon host Tunisia in a Qatar 2022 World Cup Qualifier to be played at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.

This afternoon’s titanic clash between the Chipolopolo Boys and Carthage Eagles is crucial as the victor will take an early lead of Group B.

Both Zambia and Tunisia are level on 3 points, with Tunisia topping Group B based on their superior goal difference.

On paper, this match is guaranteed to be an entertaining one as both sides enjoy playing attacking football, evidenced by a combined 5 goals scored between them on match-day 1 of the World Cup Qualifiers.

A look at the head-to-head record shows that the two nations have met on 13 occasions.

Tunisia has had the upper hand, having won 7 of the 13, with Zambia winning 3; and three matches ending in draws.

Ironically, the first recorded match between the two nations was also a World Cup Qualifier, a second-round match played on 11 June 1989 in Lusaka.

Zambia won by a 1 – 0 scoreline thanks to a goal scored by midfield maestro, Derby Makinka.

The return leg of the same fixture played in Tunisia saw the Carthage Eagles record a narrow 1 – 0 win.

Tunisia would eventually win the group comprising Zambia, Zaire [now DR Congo], and Morocco with 7 points, one point more than Zambia [who finished second] to qualify for the third and final round of the 1990 World Cup Qualifiers where they lost to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.

The next matchup between the two was an International friendly played in Lusaka on 23 December 1995. Zambia was 2 – 0 winners courtesy of goals scored by Dennis Lota and Mordon Malitoli.

It took nearly 13 years for Zambia to record a win in this fixture. A Felix Katongo brace scored within the first 10 mins of the game was enough to cancel out Yassine Chikhaoui’s effort and ensure the Chipolopolo Boys were 2 – 1 winners in an international friendly played in Radès, Tunisia.

Between today’s fixture and Zambia’s away win in Tunisia, the two nations have met in two AFCON fixtures of the 2010 [ 1 – all draw] and 2015 [ 2 – 1 win to Tunisia] editions respectively.

Going into today’s fixture, which will be the 14th meeting between the two, history favors Tunisia.

However this is football, and anything can happen. Tiye Chipolopolo!