ES Tunis keep their CWC hopes alive

by Staff Reporter

Saturday Jun 21, 2025. 10:49

ES Tunis finally broke their Club World Cup hoodoo after recording a convincing 1-0 victory against Los Angeles FC at Geodis Park on Saturday, June 21.

The Blood and Gold had failed to win a match in their last three appearances at the intercontinental competition and were beaten 2-0 by Flamengo in the Group D opener on June 17.

But they turned on the style in Nashville and created numerous chances before Youcef Belaili scored what turned out to be the winning goal 20 minutes from time.

Maher Kanzari’s side were presented with an early opportunity when Rodrigo Rodrigues squared the ball to Belaili and his first-time shot was well saved by Hugo Lloris.

The Tunisian giants threatened again soon afterwards as Rodrigues latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the box and struck a first-time volley that Lloris pushed onto the left post at full stretch.

LAFC thought they had broken the deadlock on 28 minutes after David Martinez slotted home on the rebound, but the goal was ruled out for offside on Ryan Hollingshead in the build-up.

Belaili had been a thorn in the Black and Gold’s side all game and he would eventually get his reward on 70 minutes after firing past Lloris from a tight angle on the left.

The Algeria international was then thwarted by Lloris one-on-one after finding himself clean through on goal and he teed up Khalil Guenichi on the follow-up, only for the midfielder’s shot to crash off the crossbar.

The MLS outfit had a golden opportunity to rescue a draw late on when Marlon was fouled inside the area, but Denis Bouanga’s poor penalty was saved by the feet of Bechir Ben Said.

Los Angeles FC (0) 0

ES Tunis (0) 1 (Belaili 70′)