Tunisia left out captain Ferjani Sassi and key defender Yassine Meriah in new coach Sabri Lamouchi's squad for the upcoming World Cup.
Tunisia has made expected changes to its World Cup squad, leaving out captain Ferjani Sassi and key defender Yassine Meriah. The decision comes as new coach Sabri Lamouchi overhauled the team ahead of their seventh appearance at the tournament. Sassi, who has played 101 times for Tunisia, and Meriah, with five caps away from a century of appearances, were both dropped from the squad.
Lamouchi, appointed in January after Sami Trabelsi was dismissed following Tunisia's exit from the Cup of Nations in the last 16, made these changes as part of his first two matches in March. At that time, Lamouchi did not reveal whether he was using the friendlies against Haiti and Canada to look at alternative options or if he was seeking to build a new-look side.
Friday's squad announcement suggests a mix, with surprise call-ups for 21-year-old Khalil Ayari and teenager Rayan Elloumi. Ayari has been signed by Paris Saint-Germain but has yet to make the first team squad, while Elloumi, who is Canadian-born and 18 years old, made only two starts in Major League Soccer with the Vancouver Whitecaps earlier this year.
The Tunisia squad also includes 32-year-old midfielder Rani Khedira, whose brother Sami was a World Cup winner with Germany in 2014. Khedira had previously rejected overtures from Tunisia to play for them but switched his footballing nationality and debuted for the North Africans in March.
Tunisia competes at their seventh World Cup and are placed in Group F alongside Sweden, Japan, and the Netherlands. The squad includes goalkeepers Sabri Ben Hessen (Etoile Sahel), Abdelmouhib Chamakh (Club Africain), and Aymen Dahman (CS Sfaxien); defenders Ali Abdi (Nice), Adem Arous (Kasimpasa), Mohamed Amine Ben Hamida (Esperance), Dylan Bronn (Servette Geneva), Raed Chikhaoui (US Monastir), Moutaz Neffati (Norrkoping), Omar Rekik (NK Maribor), Montassar Talbi (Lorient), and Yan Valery (Young Boys Berne); midfielders Mortadha Ben Ouanes (Kasimpasa), Anis Ben Slimane (Norwich City), Ismael Gharbi (FC Augsburg), Rani Khedira (Union Berlin), Mohamed Hadj Mahmoud (Lugano), Hannibal Mejbri (Burnley), Ellyes Skhiri (Eintracht Frankfurt); and forwards Elias Achouri (FC Copenhagen), Khalil Ayari (Paris St Germain), Firas Chaouat (Club Africain), Rayan Elloumi (Vancouver Whitecaps), Hazem Mastouri (Dynamo Makhachkala), Elias Saad (Hannover 96), and Sebastian Tounekti (Celtic).
