Doha: On Wednesday, the Carthage Eagles defeated the reigning champions France 1-0 thanks to an incredible goal from Wahbi Khazri, but it wasn't enough to advance the squad to the World Cup's knockout rounds for the first time.
While the victory—the third in the competition overall and the first against a team from Europe—was a reason for celebration, Australia's victory against Denmark by the same score means that Tunisia will be leaving.
The risk was always there. At the sixth attempt, Tunisia, who entered the game at the bottom of its group with just one point, needed a victory in order to have any hope of moving on to the next round.
However, there was still the other game in the group to contend with, so even success was not going to be a guarantee of progress.
If Australia won, the Socceroos would advance. Tunisia needed to win, but they also wanted the other two teams to tie. Always appearing far away was the promised land.
Coach Jalel Kadri pledged to retire if the squad didn't advance, but he won't need much time to ponder to realise that his club's hopes were shattered by a lack of firepower.l, Reuters reported.
The first match, a 0-0 tie with Denmark, was a strong effort against a squad that was ranked 10th in the world. For the second, and theoretically most winnable, game against Australia, it served as a strong foundation.
Midway through the first half, Mitchell Duke scored a beautiful header to put Australia ahead. Tunisia was unable to break through the tenacious Socceroos' defence, and while their performance was passable, there was a lack of bite in the final third.
Tunisia's dream was ultimately lost due to their failure to score because it meant that their fate rested with others.
Certainly, there was an attempt when facing France. Following the disappointment of Saturday's loss, Tunisia came out firing against Les Bleus right away.
In the ninth minute, Khazri swung in a free kick that Nader Ghandri acrobatically steered home, but the player was rightfully ruled offside.
Even in the second half at Education City Stadium, Tunisia continued to dominate the running. The North Africans had only triumphed in two of their opening matches at the World Cup, but they never gave up attempting to make it three.
Khazri, who sprinted at a sluggish French defence before sending the ball past backup goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, ensured that the goal would happen just before the hour.
And yet, within a short period of time, word spread that Australia had defeated Denmark and reclaimed the second position in the group.
As if that weren't enough, France's Kylian Mbappe entered the action and began charging the weary Tunisian defenders.
Antoine Greizmann scored a goal in overtime that was disallowed by VAR, but Tunisia managed to hold on.
However, by the time it was decided, Tunisia had been denied and Australia had advanced.