| Algeria–Tunisia football rivalry | |
| Other Names: | Maghreb derby |
| City Or Region: | CAF (Africa) UNAF (North Africa) |
| First Contested: | Tunisia 0–0 Algeria Friendly 15 December 1963 |
| Teams Involved: | |
| Most Wins: | Algeria (18) |
| Most Player Appearances: | Lakhdar Belloumi (10) |
| Top Scorer: | Djamel Menad (5) |
| Mostrecent: | Algeria 1–1 Tunisia Friendly 20 June 2023 |
| Total: | 48 |
| Series: | Algeria: 18 Draw: 16 Tunisia: 15 |
| Map Location: | Arab world |
| Map Label1: | Algeria |
| Map Label1 Position: | left |
| Map Label2: | Tunisia |
| Map Label2 Position: | bottom |
| Coordinates1: | 36.7539°N 3.0589°W |
| Coordinates2: | 36.8064°N 10.1817°W |
The Algeria–Tunisia football rivalry or the Maghreb derby is a football rivalry between the national football teams of Algeria and Tunisia, having achieved three Africa Cup of Nations and two Arab Cups between the two countries.[1]
The two nations have played 48 games against each other; Algeria leads in wins with 18 to Tunisia's 15, with the two sides drawing 15 times.[2] The first unofficial match took place on 1 June 1957, in a friendly match between Tunisia and the FLN football team, when Algeria was a French colony. After the independence of Algeria, the first official match took place on 15 December 1963, in a friendly match at the Stade Chedly Zouiten in Tunisia.
The last defeat of Algeria against their neighbours dated back to 20 January 2017, during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations which was hosted by Gabon. The last match between the two teams was played in Annaba as part of a friendly match on June 20, 2023 and ended in a 1–1 draw.
Algeria, for its part, has participated four times in the biggest football event in the world: 1982, 1986, 2010 and 2014. Tunisia has participated six times in the FIFA World Cup, the biggest men's football event in the world, in 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018 and 2022. The two countries have never qualified together for the World Cup.
| Year | Algeria | Tunisia | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qualification | Round | Qualification | Round | ||
 1978 | Did not qualify – Second round loser | Qualified – Final round winner | Group stage | ||
 1982 | Qualified – Final round winner | Group stage | Did not qualify – First round loser | ||
 1986 | Qualified – Final round winner | Group stage | Did not qualify – Third round loser | ||
 1998 | Did not qualify – First round loser | Qualified – Final round winner | Group stage | ||
  2002 | Did not qualify – Second round loser | Qualified – Second round winner | Group stage | ||
| 2006 | Did not qualify – Second round loser | Qualified – Second round winner | Group stage | ||
| 2010 | Qualified – Tiebreaking play-off winner | Group stage | Did not qualify – Third round loser | ||
 2014 | Qualified – Third round winner | Round of 16 | Did not qualify – Third round loser | ||
 2018 | Did not qualify – Third round loser | Qualified – Third round winner | Group stage | ||
 2022 | Did not qualify – Third round loser | Qualified – Third round winner | Group stage | ||
The Maghreb derby between Algeria and Tunisia is one of the most enjoyable matches in Africa, due to the geographical proximity and historical relations between the two countries. After Tunisia's independence and before Algeria's independence, Tunisia played a series of matches against the FLN football team, who was a team made up mainly of professional players in France, who then joined the Algerian independence movement of the National Liberation Front. The first match between the two countries after their independence was played on 15 December 1963 at the Chedly Zouiten Stadium in Tunis and ended in a 0–0 draw.[3]
A year later in 1964, the two teams faced each other in the 1965 All–Africa Games qualification, where Algeria qualified.[4] In 1968, the two teams met in the first round of the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification. Tunisia won the first leg 2–1 and drew the second leg 0–0 to qualify for the next round.[5] [6] In 1975, the two teams faced each other in the 1976 African Cup of Nations qualification, after a 0–0 draw in the first leg, Tunisia won the second leg 2–1. In the same year, the two teams played against each other in the 1976 Summer Olympics qualification, which ended with Tunisia winning 3–2 on aggregate. Algeria beat Tunisia in the football tournament of the 1975 Mediterranean Games, which it hosted, with a score of 2–1. In 1977, Tunisia beat Algeria in the second round of the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification, winning 2–0 in the first leg and drawing 1–1 in the second leg, sending Tunisia through to the next round, which qualified them for the World Cup for the first time.[7] [8]
The two teams met again at the in the football tournament of the 1979 Mediterranean Games in Omiš, Yugoslavia, which ended in a 1–1 draw.[9] In the football tournament of the 1983 Mediterranean Games in El Jadida, Morocco, Tunisia beat Algeria 3–2. In 1985, during the final round of the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification, Algeria beat Tunisia 7–1 on aggregate, winning 4–1 in the first leg and 3–0 in the second leg, to qualify for the World Cup for the second time.[10] [11] In 1999, Tunisia beat Algeria home and away in Group 7 of the 2000 African Cup of Nations qualification, 1–0 home and 2–0 away.
At the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in Rustenburg, South Africa, Algeria and Tunisia faced off in Group D with the Eagles of Carthage wins the match with a goal from Youssef Msakni from outside the penalty area in the 90+1 minute.[12] Msakni's goal was voted the best goal of the tournament by the Confederation of African Football.
At the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Franceville, Gabon, Algeria and Tunisia faced off in Group B. Tunisia had to make up for it in the second match against Algeria. Tunisia took the lead in the 50th minute after a cross from Youssef Msakni was turned into his own net by Aïssa Mandi. About ten minutes later, Faouzi Ghoulam brought down Wahbi Khazri in the area, earning a penalty kick that Naïm Sliti converted in the 66th minute. In the 92nd minute, Adlène Guedioura passed the ball inside the penalty area to Sofiane Hanni, who put it in the net of goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi, who was unable to stop it. The match ended with a 2−1 tunisian victory.[13]
On 18 December 2021, the two teams played against each other in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup final at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, Qatar. The game went to extra-time and nine minutes into the first-half, Algeria's Amir Sayoud scored with a long range left footed shot into the left corner of the net.[14] As Tunisia desperately tried to level the match deep into added on time, the ball broke from a Tunisia corner and reached Yacine Brahimi who ran into the penalty area before shooting into the empty net from six yards out to put Algeria 2–0 up.[15]
| Date | Location | Home Team | Score | Away team | Competition | Home Team | Away team | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 December 1963 | Tunis, Tunisia | 0–0 | Friendly | — | — | [16] | |||
| 2 | 27 December 1964 | Algiers, Algeria | 1–0 | 1965 All-Africa Games qualification | — | [17] | ||||
| 3 | 14 March 1964 | Tunis, Tunisia | 0–0 | — | — | [18] | ||||
| 4 | 17 November 1968 | Algiers, Algeria | 1–2 | 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification | [19] | |||||
| 5 | 29 December 1968 | Tunis, Tunisia | 0–0 | — | — | [20] | ||||
| 6 | 5 June 1972 | Tunis, Tunisia | 3–1 | Friendly | [21] | |||||
| 7 | 16 November 1972 | Tunis, Tunisia | 1–2 | Friendly | [22] | |||||
| 8 | 11 May 1974 | Algiers, Algeria | 1–2 | Friendly | [23] | |||||
| 9 | 23 March 1975 | Tunis, Tunisia | 1–1 | 1976 African Cup of Nations qualification | [24] | |||||
| 10 | 6 April 1975 | Oran, Algeria | 1–2 | [25] | ||||||
| 11 | 11 May 1975 | Algiers, Algeria | 1–1 | 1976 Summer Olympics qualification | [26] | |||||
| 12 | 1 June 1975 | Tunis, Tunisia | 2–1 | |||||||
| 13 | 4 September 1975 | Algiers, Algeria | 2–1 | 1975 Mediterranean Games | [27] | |||||
| 14 | 6 February 1977 | Tunis, Tunisia | 2–0 | 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification | — | [28] | ||||
| 15 | 28 February 1977 | Algiers, Algeria | 1–1 | [29] | ||||||
| 16 | 23 September 1979 | Omiš, Yugoslavia | 1–1 | 1979 Mediterranean Games | [30] | |||||
| 17 | 7 February 1982 | Tunis, Tunisia | 0–1 | Friendly | — | [31] | ||||
| 18 | 19 December 1982 | Tunis, Tunisia | 0–1 | Friendly | — | [32] | ||||
| 19 | 11 September 1983 | El Jadida, Morocco | 3–2 | 1983 Mediterranean Games | [33] | |||||
| 20 | 30 December 1984 | Abidjan, Ivory Coast | 3–1 | Friendly (Abidjan Tournament) | [34] [35] | |||||
| 21 | 1 May 1985 | Tunis, Tunisia | 1–0 | Friendly | — | [36] | ||||
| 22 | 6 October 1985 | Tunis, Tunisia | 1–4 | 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification | [37] [38] | |||||
| 23 | 18 October 1985 | Algiers, Algeria | 3–0 | — | [39] | |||||
| 24 | 11 January 1987 | Tunis, Tunisia | 0–2 | 1987 All-Africa Games qualification | — | [40] | ||||
| — | 21 February 1987 | Algiers, Algeria | Cancelled | — | — | — | ||||
| 25 | 27 March 1987 | Algiers, Algeria | 1–0 | 1988 African Cup of Nations qualification | — | [41] | ||||
| 26 | 12 April 1987 | Tunis, Tunisia | 1–1 | [42] | ||||||
| 27 | 11 December 1987 | Algiers, Algeria | 0–0 | 1988 Arab Cup | — | — | [43] | |||
| 28 | 5 November 1988 | Tunis, Tunisia | 1–0 | Friendly | — | [44] | ||||
| 29 | 4 April 1989 | Algiers, Algeria | 2–0 | Friendly | — | [45] | ||||
| 30 | 1 November 1989 | Tunis, Tunisia | 0–0 | Friendly | — | — | [46] | |||
| 31 | 5 March 1991 | Annaba, Algeria | 2–1 | Friendly | Khmiri | [47] | ||||
| 32 | 7 April 1991 | Tunis, Tunisia | 0–0 | Friendly | — | — | [48] | |||
| 33 | 23 September 1992 | Tunis, Tunisia | 1–1 | Friendly | [49] | |||||
| 34 | 16 December 1994 | Sfax, Tunisia | 1–0 | Friendly | — | [50] | ||||
| 35 | 22 July 1995 | Algiers, Algeria | 2–1 | Friendly | [51] | |||||
| 36 | 5 November 1995 | Tunis, Tunisia | 2–0 | Friendly (7th November Cup) | — | [52] [53] | ||||
| 37 | 4 January 1997 | Sfax, Tunisia | 0–0 | Friendly | — | — | [54] | |||
| 38 | 31 May 1997 | Tunis, Tunisia | 0–1 | Friendly | — | [55] | ||||
| 39 | 22 January 1999 | Algiers, Algeria | 0–1 | 2000 African Cup of Nations qualification | — | [56] | ||||
| 40 | 6 June 1999 | Tunis, Tunisia | 2–0 | — | [57] | |||||
| 41 | 28 June 2000 | Tunis, Tunisia | 2–2 | Friendly | [58] | |||||
| 42 | 12 November 2011 | Blida, Algeria | 1–0 | Friendly | — | [59] [60] | ||||
| 43 | 22 January 2013 | Rustenburg, South Africa | 1–0 | 2013 Africa Cup of Nations | — | [61] [62] | ||||
| 44 | 11 January 2015 | Radès, Tunisia | 1–1 | Friendly | [63] [64] | |||||
| 45 | 19 January 2017 | Franceville, Gabon | 1–2 | 2017 Africa Cup of Nations | [65] [66] | |||||
| 46 | 26 March 2019 | Blida, Algeria | 1–0 | Friendly | — | [67] [68] | ||||
| 47 | 11 June 2021 | Radès, Tunisia | 0–2 | Friendly | — | [69] | ||||
| 48 | 18 December 2021 | Al Khor, Qatar | 0–2 | 2021 FIFA Arab Cup final | — | [70] | ||||
| 49 | 20 June 2023 | Annaba, Algeria | 1–1 | Friendly | [71] |
| Competition | Matches | Algeria Wins | Draws | Tunisia Wins | Algeria Goals | Tunisia Goals | Goals Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa Cup of Nations | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | –2 | |
| FIFA World Cup qualification | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | |
| Africa Cup of Nations qualification | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | –3 | |
| Summer Olympics qualification | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 | |
| African Games qualification | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | |
| Mediterranean Games | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | |
| FIFA Arab Cup | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Friendly Match | 25 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 25 | 19 | +6 | |
| Total | 49 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 51 | 43 | +8 |
| Algeria | Competition | Tunisia | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 (1990, 2019) | Africa Cup of Nations | 1 (2004) | |
| 0 | African Nations Championship | 1 (2011) | |
| 1 (2021) | FIFA Arab Cup | 1 (1963) | |
| 1 (1991) | Afro-Asian Cup of Nations | 0 | |
| 4 | Aggregate | 3 |