How Tunisia’s supporters repped both country & team at KC’s World Cup Fan Fest
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- Tunisia supporters attended the Kansas City World Cup Fan Festival before Group F play.
- Tunisia were already eliminated entering their final group-stage game.
- Sabri Lamouchi was fired after the 5-1 loss to Sweden and replaced by Hervé Renard.
Sprinkled among a sea of orange-clad Netherlands fans, a few passionate Tunisia supporters sported their soccer team’s signature red jerseys at Kansas City’s FIFA World Cup Fan Fest on Thursday afternoon.
Later Thursday evening, the teams were scheduled to play their third and final group-stage match of the 2026 World Cup at nearby Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium.
Tunisia has not had the best of showings during the tournament. After opening with 5-1 loss to Sweden, the team fired manager Sabri Lamouchi and replaced him with Hervé Renard. Lamouchi thus became the first coach fired one game into a World Cup.
Now, entering its finale against the powerhouse Dutch side, the North African nation has already been eliminated from any hope of advancing to the knockout stage. Only the top two teams from each group move on.
Tunisia’s poor performance on the pitch wasn’t preventing the squad’s supporters from enjoying the rest of their World Cup experience in Kansas City.
“(The team) has mostly been down, but the experience is great,” Tunisian Muhammad Zaban said Thursday in KC. “The fans are great. There are people here from all over the world, so we’re having fun.”
Even though their World Cup fate has been sealed, many of those fans were still rooting for their team.
“If they are out there, we are still cheering for them,” said a Tunisian who went by “Aktem.” He said he flew to Kansas City with his three children in order to attend Thursday’s match. “It’s our country. We are supporting them in the bad and the good moments.”
He wasn’t alone.
“We love everything in Tunisia. Everything that’s Tunisia, we are going to be there,” Tunisia fan Muhammad Zeiny said. “We’re going to support our country, and that’s what it’s all about. That’s what our country is all about.”
In true World Cup fashion, by match time some Tunisian fans had seemingly formed friendships with counterparts supporting the Netherlands. The bonds formed serendipitously on the streets of KC, forged in a love of soccer and its culture.
“We get along with the Dutch because we’re both super friendly,” Zeiny said. “We both love sports.
“I’m glad we are playing the Dutch because it’s been a great vibe. They have gotten to know us, and they have gotten to know that we’re friendly, too.”
This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 3:35 PM with the headline "How Tunisia’s supporters repped both country & team at KC’s World Cup Fan Fest."