Club World Cup Preview: Espérance de Tunis

In partnership with

Hooligan Soccer

·6 June 2025

Club World Cup Preview: Espérance de Tunis

The fifteenth in our continuing series highlighting all thirty-two clubs in the FIFA Club World Cup, which starts on June 14th.

Club Background

From: Tunis, Tunisia
How They Qualified: Espérance won the 2022 CAF Champions League.
Best CWC Finish: This is their fourth time qualifying for the Cup. They have never finished higher than fifth place (which is to say, they have lost all their opening round games).

Recent Form: Finished first in Tunisia’s Ligue Professionnelle 1 They recovered from an early dip that saw them as low as 7th place by Week 7. It was their second consecutive league championship, and 34th in total. Won the Tunisian Super Cup. Was eliminated from the CAF Champions Cup in the quarterfinals stage by Mamelodi Sundowns 1 – 0 on aggregate.
Facts: 68% of the team is Tunisian. They have a high roster turnover. 59% of the team have been signed less than 18 months. 42% of the team were signed from their youth academy. Only scored 57 goals over 30 games in league play.

The Team

Manager: Maher Kanzari Replaced Miguel Cardoso (who is the current manager of Mamelodi Sundowns) in early 2025. This is Kanzari’s third time coaching Espérance. He has extensive experience coaching the Tunisian national team.
Star Players: Yan Sasse Brazilian midfielder with 11g/2a in 32 matches. Youcef Belaïli Algerian midfielder who plays on the left. He has 11g/7a in 29 games. He also received 12 yellow cards over the season. Amine Ben Hamida 29 year-old center-back. One of the few defenders who’s played every match. Has 3g/4a and the strongest defensive stats.
Young Players: Zinedine Kada 19 year-old forward with 2 goals in 400 minutes as a substitute. Abdramane Konaté Diminutive Ivorian center midfielder; 19 years-old.
Training Sites: Oakland University, Oakland County, Michigan

When to Watch

9:00pm ET on Jun 16, 2025 vs. Flamengo @ Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
6:00pm ET on Jun 20, 2025 vs. LAFC @ GEODIS Park, Nashville, TN
9:00pm ET on Jun 24, 2025 vs. Chelsea @ Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA

The Hooligan Take

Espérance is one of the wealthiest clubs in Africa, but their $12M a year wage bill is significantly lower than Flamengo (est. at $52M), and a fraction of Chelsea’s $228M. Does this mean they’re destined to lose? Not at all. Soccer is a meritorious sport, and money does not always equal success. The bigger issue holding them down is a lack of real firepower. If they’re the dominant team in their league and only generating 1.8 goals per match, how will that translate against the stronger defenses in this group? We’ll have to find out.