Tunisia lose to Croatia on penalties in friendly
World Cup semifinalists Croatia needed a penalty shootout to beat Tunisia following a 0-0 draw in a friendly on Saturday.
Keeper Ivica Ivusic, who replaced Dominik Livakovic in the second half, came to Croatia’s rescue with three penalty saves as his side prevailed 5-4 after the game went to a shootout.
Seifeddine Jaziri had a chance to win it for Tunisia in sudden death but Ivusic blocked his tame effort. The Cypriot-based keeper saved the decisive penalty from Oussama Haddadi. Croatia will face Egypt in the final of the fourteam tournament on Tuesday after the hosts defeated New Zealand 1-0 on Friday. The tournament is part of FIFA’S new series of friendly games introduced to allow teams from different confederations to play each other.
Tunisia’s defence restricted a star-studded Croatia side featuring the likes of Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic to few chances.
Although Croatia had territorial dominance, it was Tunisia who created the game’s best chances on the break in an otherwise drab affair.
Hamza Jelassi had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside and Ali Abdi fired over the crossbar from a good position in the first half. The best opportunity fell to Tunisia substitute Sayfallah Ltaief, who headed over the bar with the goal at his mercy in the 77th minute.
Ivory Coast held
Oumar Diakite scored a secondhalf equaliser to spare the blushes of newly-crowned African champions Ivory Coast who were held to a 2-2 draw by Benin in a friendly in Amiens, France on Saturday.
It was a first game for coach Emerse Fae since his side lifted the Cup of Nations title on home soil last month, but they had to come behind twice to draw after a lacklustre performance.
Benin midfielder Junior Olaitan opened the scoring before winger Max Gradel equalised just before the half-hour mark. Olaitan’s second goal put Benin on course for victory before Diakite equalised again after 69 minutes.
Ivory Coast play Uruguay in a friendly in Lens on Tuesday, another opportunity to build towards the resumption of 2026 African World Cup qualifiers in June.