A Tunisian national football team will have an unusual absence in the dispute World Cup 2026. The attacker Louey Ben Farhat19 years old, was left off the squad list after a request made by his own father to the coach Sabri Lamouchi.
During a press conference after , he received a call from the player’s father asking that the attacker not be called up for the competition.
“A few hours ago, I received a call from his father saying that maybe it was too early, that maybe it wasn’t the right time and that he shouldn’t be included on the list. Like you, I was shocked”, said the coach of the African team.
According to Lamouchi, he tried to get back in touch after the initial conversation, but was unable to speak to the athlete’s family again.
“I called the father a second time, but he didn’t answer either. And I said he would be on the list because I need to talk to someone, whether it’s the son or the father, because it’s disrespectful,” he added.
“The star of the team is Tunisia. If you don’t respect this flag, this shirt, you don’t deserve it. Therefore, if anyone has doubts, if anyone doesn’t want to participate, they are not welcome,” declared the coach.
Born in Germany, Ben Farhat played for Karlsruhe SCa German second division team, and had been defending Tunisia in the youth categories due to his Tunisian ancestry.
Check out Tunisia’s squad for the 2026 World Cup:
- Goleiros: Aymen Dahmen (Sfax), Sabri Ben Hassen (ES Sahel) and Abdelmouhib Chamakh (Club Africain).
- Defensores: Yan Valéry (Young Boys), Moutaz Neffati (Norkoping), Dylan Bronn (Servette FC), Raed Chikhaoui (Monastir), Montassar Talbi (Lorient), Adem Arous (Kasimpaca), Omar Rekik (Maribor), Ali Abdi (Nice) and Mohamed Ben Hmida (Esperánce).
- Meio-campistas: Ellyes Skhiri (Eintracht Frankfurt), Anis Ben Slimane (Norwich), Rani Khedira (Union Berlin), Mortadha Ben Ouanes (Kasimpaca), Ismaël Gharbi (Augsburg), Mohamed Hadj-Mahmoud (Lugano) and Hannibal (Burnley).
- Atacantes: Elias Saäd (Hannover), Khalil Ayari (PSG), Elias Achouri (Copenhague), Sebastian Tounekti (Celtic), Hazem Mastouri (Dynamo Moscou), Firas Chawat (Club Africain) e Rayan Elloumi (Vancouver Whitecaps).
