Tunisia v Spain - Preview and possible lineups

Tunisia:

The 'Eagles of Carthage' will be without two key men: Youssef Msakni and Taha Khenissi. Msanki in particular is a massive loss, and it was a big blow when the forward was ruled out of the World Cup with a knee ligament injury.

Spain:

The only absence for Spain is Dani Carvajal. The Real Madrid man came off injured during the Champions League final, and will miss the tie against Tunisia, however Spain coach Julen Lopetegui insists he will be ready for the World Cup. Real Sociedad defender Alvaro Odriozola is the man likely to replace him in the side.

Sergio Busquets had been suffering from gastroenteritis, but he is recovered and now returns to the side.

Tunisia boss Nabil Maaloul:

Maaloul, who has a large amount of Muslim players in his team, recently confessed to telling his players to fake injuries in order to allow them to eat and drink.

“We prepared it because a huge amount of players were fasting," he said. "I told him (Mouez Hassen) to fall down to let the players break the fast. Us staff too."

"The players have the right to do what they have to do. It’s our religion. It’s difficult to stay 16 hours without water, without drinking, especially if you have two training sessions. But we adapted.”

Spain boss Julen Lopetegui:

Lopetegui pointed to Tunisia's quality to explain why they chose them as friendly opponents.

"We chose Tunisia for a reason," he stated."They're unbeaten in their last nine matches, drew with Portugal and it's a team which does interesting things.

"The idea is to give us an extra push forward in our preparation, fine tune the team a little, although we can only make six substitutes."

Did you know?

The last time the two sides faced each other was back in 2006, at the Germany World Cup. Unsurprisingly, Spain were 3-1 victors.

Possible lineups:

Tunisia: Hassen; Ali Maaloul, Ben Youssef, Meriah, Dylan Bronn; Khaoui, Skhiri, Ferjani Sassi; Naim Sliti, Badri, Khazri.

Spain: De Gea; Odriozola, Sergio Ramos, Pique, Jordi Alba; Busquets, Thiago; Iniesta, Isco, Silva; Diego Costa.