The Socceroos suffered a 4-1 loss to France in their opening match of the competition on Tuesday, while Tunisia played out a goalless draw with Denmark in their first game of the 2022 tournament.

Tunisia’s performance against Denmark will certainly have given them plenty of encouragement ahead of this match, which will see them face Australia for just the third time, with their only competitive meeting coming in the Confederations Cup back in June 2005, which saw Tunisia record a 2-0 win.

Tunisia have not reported any injury concerns from their competition opener with Denmark, so the bulk of the XI that started that match should again take to the field.

Wahbi Khazri.,  who is the leading goalscorer in the squad with 24, was not involved in the team’s first game of the tournament, but he is expected to come into the side here.

The 31-year-old could replace Anis Ben Slimane,with   Youssef Msakni  and  Issam Jebali almost certain to retain their spots in the final third of the field.

Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri  was a late substitute against Denmark, meanwhile, and the teenager will be hoping to earn more World Cup minutes here.

Tunisia’s last and indeed toughest game in the group will be against France next Wednesday, so their chances of qualifying for the knockout round could largely hinge on their result against Australia.

Australia, as mentioned, will enter this match off the back of a 4-1 defeat to world champions France on Tuesday, which has already left them in a difficult position in Group D.

As for Australia, head coach Arnold is expected to resist the temptation to shuffle his pack following the defeat to France, as there were positives from the clash with the Blues.

In their first game in the group  Socceroos took the lead against Didier Deschamp’s   side in the ninth minute through Craig Goodwin , but France went on to score four times without reply through Adrien Rabiot, Olivier Giroud  (two) and Kylian Mbappe , with the result leaving Australia at the bottom of the group.

Australia have now been present in each of the last five World Cups, being eliminated in the group stage in their last three participations, winning just once in the process.

They  did manage to reach the round of 16 back in 2006, though, finishing second in Group F behind Brazil before losing 1-0 to Italy in the first knockout round.

Tunisia possible starting lineup:
Dahmen; Bronn, Meriah, Talbi; Drager, Skhiri, Laidouni, Abdi; Khazri, Jebali, Msakni

Australia possible starting lineup:
Ryan; Atkinson, Souttar, Rowles, Behich; Mooy; Leckie, Irvine, McGree, Goodwin; Duke

Collins Okinyo

Ex- CAF Media Expert. An expert on African football with over 15 years experience ,always with an ear to the ground with indepth knowledge of the game. I have worked for top publications including 7 years at www.supersport.com until i founded www.soka25east.com to quench the thirst of football lovers across the continent. I have trained young upcoming journalists who are now a voice in African football.I have covered World Cup,AFCON,CHAN,Champions League,Confederations Cup,Cecafa,Cosafa,Wafu and many other football tournaments across the World. Founder Football Africa Arena(FAA),Founder www.afrisportdigital.com