Tunisia announce World Cup squad

PARIS: Tunisia coach Nabil Maaloul stripped six players from his provisional group to reveal a whittled down 23-man World Cup squad on Saturday. The Carthage Eagles squad will head to the World Cup without striker Ahmed Akaichi or goalkeeper Moez Ben Cherifia. “Good luck to my friends in the World Cup in Russia... Long live Tunisia!” Akaichi, who plays for Al-Ittihad, wrote on his Facebook page. Tunisia’s football federation announced the squad a day after the team drew (2-2) in a friendly against Turkey, with goals from Anice Badri and Ferjani Sassi. Khazri sat out Friday’s warm-up match, but was included in the final squad. Tunisia are in Group G in Russia play England June 18, Belgium June 23 and Panama June 28. The team will play a final warm-up match on June 9 against Spain — world champions in 2010. The star of the Tunisian team, Youssef Msakni, will miss the World Cup due to knee an injury — sustained in a league match for Qatari club Al-Duhail.