The Tunisia men's national basketball team (
Arabic: منتخب تونس لكرة السلة), nicknamed The Eagles of Carthage, represents
Tunisia in international
basketball. The team is governed by the
Tunisia Basketball Federation (FTBB). To date, she has taken part in the regional championship the
AfroBasket 23 times. In terms of the number of successful performances, it is inferior to the traditionally strong teams of
Senegal,
Côte d'Ivoire, and
Egypt. In 2011, the Tunisian national team became the champion of Africa for the first time in its history, defeating the Angola team in the
AfroBasket 2011 final. The team's previous success was silver at the home
Africa Championship 1965. The team also won bronze medals in the
1970,
1974,
2009 and
2015 competitions.
Despite fairly successful performances (the Tunisian national team never finished lower than eighth), the team was unable to repeat or even come close to the successes of the 1970s. The success of the 2009 was quite unexpected, when the team took third place at the
AfroBasket 2009. Following the results of the draw, forward
Amine Rzig was included in the symbolic team of the tournament, and the team in the preliminary round won 4 games with two defeats, but in three matches the Tunisian team won with a difference of two or one point. Tunisia reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 1974, where they defeated
Mali by one point. And although Tunisia lost to
Angola in the semi-finals,
Cameroon was beaten in the bronze medal match, and the Tunisian team automatically qualified for the
2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey. This was also the first time in the team's history that they qualified for the world championship. However, the team performed poorly at the World Cup, losing all five matches in
Group B and eventually finishing in 24th place. In
2017 as co-hosts,[3] Tunisia won its second
AfroBasket by beating
Nigeria 77–65 in the final.[4] It retains its title in
2021 by beating
Ivory Coast in the final with a score of 78–75.[5]
Although the Tunisians never finished worse than eighth in any of their succeeding appearances, they were not able to break onto the podium again until a surprise bronze medal run at the
FIBA Africa Championship 2009. Led by All-Tournament First Team forward
Amine Rzig,[9] the Tunisians went 4–2 in the preliminary rounds, winning three games by two points or less. They reached the semi-finals for only the second time since 1974, by another slim margin – this time a one-point victory over
Mali. Although they were defeated by
Angola in the semi-finals, the Tunisians topped
Cameroon in the bronze medal game, to claim Africa's third and final automatic berth in the
2010 FIBA World Championship – its first ever
FIBA World Cup berth. The Tunisians struggled to compete in the World Championship, losing all five of their games, and finishing last in Group B, and 24th overall. Yet, after almost forty years of mediocrity in Africa, Tunisia has become one of the continent's prime competitors again. Its appearances at the global stage have become a new milestone in the team's history.
Unlike other team sports, where Tunisia is well positioned at the regional level, the Tunisian men's basketball team has not managed to expand its list of trophies even if at the continental level it can consider among the most awarded countries. Finalist of the
African championship held in home in
1965, four times third and twice fourth, Tunisia did not succeed in becoming African champion of the discipline until
2011 without however maintaining its rank since, during the following edition, it is relegated to ninth place.
At the Arab level, the prize list is more extensive with four champion titles, in 1981, 1983, 2008 and 2009, a second place and three third places. On 28 August 2011, the team won the
AfroBasket for the first time after defeating
Angola 67–56 in the final and qualified for the
2012 Summer Olympics.[15]
In
2017 as co-hosts,[16] Tunisia won its second
AfroBasket by beating
Nigeria 77–65 in the final.[17] It retains its title in
2021 by beating
Ivory Coast in the final with a score of 78–75.[18] On 16 February 2022, Tunisia lost the final of the
2022 Arab Championship against
Lebanon 69–72 in the United Arab Emirates.
Champions Runners up Third place Fourth place
Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.