France have never lost in four previous meetings with Tunisia (W2 D2), with this their first encounter since a 1-1 draw in May 2010.
France have alternated between winning (3) and losing (2) in each of their five Fifa World Cup matches against African nations, beating Nigeria 2-0 in their last such match in 2014.
Tunisia remain winless in the 2022 World Cup (D1 L1); should they also fail to win this match, it will mean they haven’t won a game in four of their six World Cup appearances (also 1998, 2002, and 2006). The African side have never progressed from their group at the World Cup.
France have won each of their last six World Cup games, their longest ever winning run in the competition. Indeed, only Italy (7 between 1934-1938) and Brazil (11 between 2002-2006) have ever had longer winning runs.
Tunisia are yet to score from 27 shots in their two games at the 2022 World Cup. The African side have never gone through an entire World Cup edition without scoring, with this their sixth appearance.
Tunisia have only kept two clean sheets in their 17 World Cup matches (12 per cent). Among nations to play 15+ games at the finals, only Saudi Arabia (6 per cent) and Australia (11 per cent) have a poorer clean sheet ratio than Tunisia.
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France coach Didier Deschamps has won 11 of his 14 games in charge at the World Cup (78.6 per cent). Victory here would see him equal the best win ratio of any manager with at least 10 games in charge in the competition, level with Telê Santana (80 per cent - won 8/10).
Youssef Msakni has had nine shots at this World Cup, more than twice as many as any other Tunisia player, including six against Australia last time out – a record in a single match at the World Cup by any player for the country. Only Wahbi Khazri in 2018 (11) has ever had more shots at one World Cup for Tunisia than Msakni’s nine in 2022.
Kylian Mbappé has scored in each of his last three World Cup games, and could be just the second player to score in four in a row for France, after Just Fontaine (six in a row in 1958). Indeed, Fontaine (13) is the only player to score more goals overall in the World Cup for France than Mbappé (7).
Hugo Lloris could earn his 142nd cap for France in this game and thus equal Lilian Thuram as the joint-most capped player for the men’s French national side, a record which Thuram has held since the 2006 World Cup. Lloris could also equal Thierry Henry and Fabien Barthez (17 each) as the player who has the joint-most World Cup appearances for Les Bleus in this match (16 currently).