"It’s a historic win for us over the defending champions, but we wanted to qualify for the next round; this was our main aim.”
Tunisia managed a historic 1-0 victory over former colonial power and defending champions France, in their final World Cup Group D encounter in Education City, Al Rayan but still exited the tournament at the group stage on Wednesday.
Wahbi Khazri scored in the 58th minute to lead Tunisia to only its third victory at a World Cup tournament.
He broke the deadlock early in the second half, running at the heart of the French defense and beating two players before poking the ball into the bottom corner.
France forward Antoine Griezmann thought he had evened the score in the eighth minute of stoppage time but he was ruled offside following a video review.
It was a bittersweet result for the Carthage Eagles,who on one hand claimed a famous scalp, but on the other, were beaten to second place in the group after Australia edged Denmark by a similar score to join group leaders France in the round of 16.
Speaking after the game, Head Coach Jalel Kadri said,"It’s a historic win for us over the defending champions, but we wanted to qualify for the next round; this was our main aim.”
"Unfortunately, we exited the tournament, but we also left the game with a lot of honour and pride,” he said.