A poor first half performance saw Tunisia eliminated from the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina following a 4-1 defeat to Brazil in the Round of 16. First half goals from Marcos Leonardo and Andrey Santos gave Brazil a halftime advantage before Matheus Martins and a second goal from Santos completed the scoring for Brazil in second half stoppage time. Tunisia, who found a late consolation through Mahmoud Ghorbel, end their participation with the country’s best ever finish at a FIFA U-20 World Cup after previous first round exits at the 1977 and 1985 editions.
Brazil, victorious against Nigeria in their final group stage match on Saturday, are continuing to grow in confidence and quickly took the offensive against their opponents from North Africa. Poor passing by the Tunisian defense led to the opening goal in the 11th minute when Marcos Leonardo intercepted a pass attempt and was tripped in the penalty area by Tunisia goalkeeper Edries Arfaoui. Leonardo blasted his spot kick down the middle with confidence to put Brazil into the lead.
Leonardo created the second goal for Brazil soon after the half hour mark when he poked a clever pass through to find the run of Chelsea FC midfielder Santos, who finished low past Arfaoui. Just before halftime the Brazilians were reduced to ten players when defender Robert Renan was issued a red card for denying a clear goal scoring opportunity by pulling down Mohamed Dhaoui.
Tunisia pushed for a goal with their numerical advantage but failed to find a goal. Étoile du Sahel forward Raki Aouani appeared to cut the deficit in the 76th minute but a very slight handball was spotted by the Video Assistant Referee to cancel the goal. Matheus Martins put Brazil out of reach in the first minute of second half stoppage time with a clever goal before Santos fired past Arfaoui in the tenth minute of time added on. Ghorbel gave Tunisia a goal in the final seconds with a finish from close range following a scramble in the Brazilian penalty area.
Highlights of the match are in the link below.
