World Cup (Q): Tunisia strike late to confirm World Cup finals ticket

Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane’s stoppage time winner on Monday confirmed Tunisia’s place at the finals of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after the North African nation edged Equatorial Guinea in Malabo.

The visitors were under siege for most of the match but pounced on a late loss of focus from their Equatoguinean hosts, with Ben Romdhane tapping in the crucial goal from an assist by Firas Chaouat in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Needing a victory, Equatorial Guinea performed well on a rainy day in front of passionate home support but somehow could not find the goal they needed. A heroic goalkeeping performance from CS Sfaxien shot stopper Aymen Dahmen frustrated the efforts of the Nzalang Nzalang and kept the match level.

But after creating little throughout the match, Tunisia caught their opponents in an exposed position when substitute Chaouat won the ball of a defender and was left with nothing between he and Nzalang goalkeeper Jesús Owono. After drawing Owono out, Chaouat cut the ball back for Ben Romdhane who only had to roll his finish into an unguarded goal to break Equatoguinean hearts.

Tunisia are now the confirmed winners of Group H while Equatorial Guinea suffer a big blow to their hopes of finishing as runners-up. They remain two points back of second place Namibia, who are likely to win on Tuesday against bottom side São Tomé and Príncipe, and are level on ten points with Liberia who play at Malawi later on Monday.

Group H Table

1. Tunisia- 22 points (8 matches played)
2. Namibia- 12 points (7 matches)
3. Liberia- 10 points (7 matches)
4. Equatorial Guinea- 10 points (8 matches)
5. Malawi- 9 points (7 matches)
6. São Tomé and Príncipe- 0 points (7 matches)

• Tunisia have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the Group H winners.
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