The Tunisian Cup (), formerly known as Tunisian President Cup (1956–2011), is the premier

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

football competition in Tunisian football, organized annually by the

Tunisian Football Federation The Tunisian Football Federation (, ) is the governing body of association football, football in Tunisia. It established on 29 March 1957. It became a member in the FIFA in 1960, and in the same year it also became a member of Confederation of Af ...

(FTF), which is considered the second most important national title after the

Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1, formerly known as the Tunisian National Championship between 1956 and 1994, is the highest-level association football, football tournament in Tunisia and is organized by the Tunisian Football Federation and t ...

. The reigning champions are

Espérance de Tunis :''See also Esperance (disambiguation)'' Espérance is one of the two French language, French words that can be translated into "hope", the other being "espoir". Whereas the latter is closer to the idea of "dream" or "fantasy" and corresponds to mo ...

, who won their sixteenth title at the 2024–25 season. The first edition took place during the 1922–23 season under the French protectorate organized by the Tunisian Football League (an offshoot of the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF and 3F; or Triple F; , ) is the governing body of football in France. It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital, Paris. The FFF is a founding member of FIFA and is responsible for overseeing all aspec ...

). The first final after independence, which took place at the end of the 1955–56 season, was won by

Stade Tunisien Stade Tunisien (; ), abbreviated as ST, is a football club based in Le Bardo, a western suburb of Tunis (formerly the residence of the Beylical patronage). It is considered one of the top teams in the Tunis region, alongside Espérance Sportive ...

. The cup is therefore organized every year, with the exception of the 1977–78 season due to the participation of the Tunisia national team's in the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

in Argentina, and the 2001–02 edition which is not not completed due to the national team's participation in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

in Japan and South Korea. The final match has been held generally since 2001 at the

Hammadi Agrebi Stadium Hammadi Agrebi Stadium (), opened as 7 November Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the sports city of Radès, located in Radès, in the southern suburb of the city Tunis. The stadium was established in 2001 to host the 2001 Mediterra ...

Radès Radès () is a harbour city in Ben Arous Governorate, Tunisia. Situated south-east of the capital Tunis, some consider it a Tunis suburb, and parts of the harbor installations of Tunis are located in Radès. Rades is divided into sub cities: ...

. A new Tunisian Cup Trophy is adopted whenever a team triumphs the same Trophy three times, the current cup has been taken since 2020.

Espérance Sportive de Tunis Espérance Sportive de Tunis (), known as ES Tunis or simply EST for short, is a Tunisian professional sports club founded on 15 January 1919 in the Bab Souika neighborhood of Tunis. Its football (soccer), football section has competed in th ...

is the most successful team with a record 16 titles. As for

Étoile Sportive du Sahel Étoile Sportive du Sahel (), known as ES Sahel or simply ESS for short, is a Tunisian football club based in Sousse in the Sahel, Tunisia, Sahel region of Tunisia. Their home stadium, Sousse Olympic Stadium, has a capacity of 50,000 spectators ...

, it has occupied second place fifteen times, the last of which was during the 2018–19 season.

Club Africain Club Africain (), known as CA for short, is a Tunisian professional football club based in Tunis. The club was founded in 1920 and its colours are red and white. Their home stadium, Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, has a capacity of 60,000 spectators. ...

is the team that has played in the most finals (27 times), as well as the team that retained the title for four consecutive seasons (1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69 and 1969–70) . Coach

Mokhtar Tlili Mokhtar Tlili (; born 8 October 1942) is a Tunisian Association footballer, football manager. He coached the Tunisia national football team. He was a defender at CS Cheminots, he interrupts his playing career at the age of 25 years to become a ...

has won the tournament a record three times with

(2) and

CA Bizertin Club Athlétique Bizertin (), known as CA Bizertin or simply CAB for short, is a Tunisian professional football club based in Bizerte. The club was founded 1928 and its colours are yellow and black. Their home stadium, 15 October Stadium, has a ...

(1), while player Sadok Sassi has won the title a record 8 times with

. From the start of the 2020s, the management of the

decided to play the final match outside the capital

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

and move it to regions, such as Monastir in the final of the 2019–20 season and

Djerba Djerba (; , ; ), also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is a Tunisian island and the largest island of North Africa at , in the Gulf of Gabès, off the coast of Tunisia. Administratively, it is part of Medenine Governorate. The island h ...

in the final of the 2020–21 season.

Format

Eight teams from the

(the teams that finished last season between seventh and twelfth place, in addition to the two teams promoted from the

Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 2 The Ligue Professionelle 2 is the second football level in Tunisia, under Ligue Professionelle 1 which is the top level of Tunisian football. Contested by 24 clubs, divided in two groups, playing each other twice during the season, the top two te ...

) enter the competition in the 32 round, followed by the other six teams in the next round. The Tunisian Cup champion qualifies directly for the

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

. However, if the cup champion is the champion of the

that season or a participant in the

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club (association football), club football competition organized by the Conf ...

, the club that played the final is the one who replaces it in the external competition. A new Tunisian Cup Trophy is adopted whenever a team triumphs the same Trophy three times.

Trophy presentation

From independence until 1987,

Habib Bourguiba Habib Bourguiba (3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian politician and statesman who served as the Head of Government of Tunisia, prime minister of the Kingdom of Tunisia from 1956 to 1957, and then as the first president of Tunisia from 1 ...

presented the cup to the winning team after each final. Since coming to power after the 1987 coup d'état,

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (Tunisian Arabic: , ; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali or Ezzine, was a Tunisian politician who served as the second President of Tunisia from 1987 to 2011. In that year, during the Tun ...

played the same role until his overthrow during the Tunisian revolution in 2011. From 2011 to 2014, the President of the Republic did not hand over the cup. After coming to power,

Beji Caid Essebsi Beji Caid Essebsi (or es-Sebsi; , ; 29 November 1926 – 25 July 2019) was a Tunisian politician who served as the fourth president of Tunisia from 31 December 2014 until his death on 25 July 2019. Previously, he served as minister of foreign af ...

(winner of the

2014 Tunisian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Tunisia on 23 November 2014, a month after 2014 Tunisian parliamentary election, parliamentary elections. They were the first free and fair presidential elections since the country gained independence in 1956, ...

) presented the cup to the 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18 editions. After the death of Caïd Essebsi, interim president

Mohamed Ennaceur Mohamed Ennaceur (; born 21 March 1934) is a Tunisian politician who served as the acting president of Tunisia for 91 days, from President Beji Caid Essebsi's death on 25 July 2019 until he handed over the presidency to Kais Saied as the winner o ...

presented the trophy at the end of the 2018–19 final. Since

Kais Saied Kais Saied ( ; born 22 February 1958) is a Tunisian politician, jurist and retired assistant professor of law currently serving as the fifth president of Tunisia since October 2019. He was president of the Tunisian Association of Constitutional ...

assumed the presidency in October 2019, he has not attended the final or presented the cup. From 2020 to 2023, all those who held the position of Minister of Youth and Sports presented the cup with the president of the

, Wadie Jary. During the 2023–24 final, at the request of the President of the Republic,

, the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, Ahmed Hachani presented the cup to the winning team.

Denominations

From independence in 1956 until the Tunisian revolution in 2011, the tournament was called the "Tunisian President Cup". Since 2011, the competition has been called the "Tunisian Cup". In August 2019, the 2018–19 edition bears the name of former president

, and the following four editions bear the name of national figures on the occasion of their death anniversary (

in 2019–20, Salah Ben Youssef in 2020–21,

Farhat Hached Farhat Hached (; 2 February 1914 – 5 December 1952) was a Tunisians, Tunisian labor unionist and activist who was assassinated by ''La Main Rouge'', a France, French terrorist organization operated by French foreign intelligence. He was one of ...

in 2021–22 and Hedi Chaker in 2022–23). On 7 February 2024, the

named the Tunisian Cup The His Excellency the President of the Republic Cup, before the start of the 2023–24 edition, returning the name of the competition to what it was before the Tunisian revolution. This decision sparked public controversy. On 9 February, President

, during his meeting with Minister of Youth and Sports Kamel Deguiche, decided to change the name of the tournament to the Tunisian Cup and rejected the new name, indicating that the era of personalization of power had passed forever. The report was published on the official page of the Presidency of the Republic on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

. After that, the TFF retracted the new name and kept the name of the Tunisian Cup.

Finals

: The lists of finals are shown in the following tables:

Pre-independence

Post-independence

Statistics

Performance by club

Most titled Managers

has won the tournament ten times, a record number, with

(2) and

(1).

Most titled players

References

External links

Tunisian Cup
at

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (''RSSSF'') is an international organisation dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around ...

{{National football Cups (CAF region) 1

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...