No quarter will be asked or given in this enticing last-16 fixture. The North Africans, contesting the second round of a FIFA competition for the first time, will be trying to overcome a France side who only secured their place in the knockout phase with a come-from-behind victory over Japan in their final group game. The question now is: can Tunisia build on their achievement and go even further, or will France show their true colours, having cleared the first hurdle.
The game
Tunisia - France, Changwon, 29 August, 17:00 (local time)
The stakes
France, who left it late in their final Group D
game to get this far, will be facing a Tunisia side that powered to
three wins from three in Group E. The Carthage Eagles will feel
right at home at the Changwon Stadium, having already played there
twice, although their opponents will be hoping to make up for that
with support from the sizeable population of French workers based
at the nearby industrial complex.
The victors will travel to Jeju for the quarter-finals, where
they will face the winners of the Spain-Korea DPR match taking
place at the same time.
The players
Although Tunisia are still without injured defender
Hamza Tlili, they welcome back Meher Jaballah after a one-match
suspension for two yellow cards. France defender Badis Lebbihi will
also return, and goalkeeper Joris Delle who sat out the Japan game,
is another who looks set to start.
The past
This is the second time the sides have meet at a
FIFA youth competition, the first coming at the inaugural edition
of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, at Tunisia 1977, when France got the
better of their hosts 1-0. And while this is the North
Africans' first foray beyond the group stage, it will be the
third time for the French, who have reached the knockout stages at
each of the three FIFA U-17 tournaments they have played in. In
their maiden appearance,
Les Bleuets lost to the USSR at the quarter-finals of
Canada 1987 (3-2), before beating Nigeria (3-0) en route to taking
the title at Trinidad and Tobago 2001.
The words
"We now have to measure up to the French, who
are a difficult adversary, although I'm confident that we can
still win. In fact, I still don't know what the limits of this
team are. In any case, we're certainly having a remarkable time
at this tournament."
Maher Kanzari, Tunisia coach
"I believe our team have the skill to perform well in
the second round, and I just hope the players can show their real
ability there."
Francois Blanquart, France coach
