Espérance Sportive de Tunis (EST, ) and in ), or simply as Attaraji, is a Tunisian professional sports club founded on 15 January 1919 in the Bab Souika neighborhood of Tunis. Its football section has competed in the Tunisian Professional League 1 continuously since 1936. It is nicknamed "Mkashkha", The Elder of Tunisian Clubs, The Blood and Gold Club and The Beast of Africa
It is the most successful Tunisian club nationally and internationally in all competitions, with 34 Tunisian Professional League 1 titles (record), the last of which was the 2024–25 season, 17 Tunisian Cup titles (record), the last of which was the 2025–26 season, and 8 Tunisian Super Cup titles (record), the most recent of which is the 2025 edition, the Hedi Shaker Cup in 1968 and the Hamda El Aouani tournament in 1978. At the African level, Esperance won the CAF Champions League title four times in 1994, 2011, 2018, 2018–19, the CAF Cup in 1997, the CAF Super Cup in 1995 and the African Cup Winners' Cup in 1998. At the Arab level, Esperance is the most Arab club to have won the Arab Club Champions Cup title three times (a record) in the 1993, 2008–09, 2017 editions, and the Arab Super Cup in 1996. Globally, Esperance won the Afro-Asian Club Championship in 1995. It participated three times in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2011, 2018, and 2019, and was satisfied with fifth place as the best participation. Espérance Sportive de Tunis ranked third in the list of the best African clubs of the twenty-first century compiled by FIFA behind Al Ahly SC and TP Mazembe. The Confederation of African Football also chose it as the fifth best African club in the twentieth century, and it topped the ranking of African clubs several times, most recently in 2018. Espérance Sportive de Tunis won the CAF Champions League in 2011 and received the FIFA Fair Play Award at the FIFA Club World Cup in 2019. There is a certain rivalry with Club Africain, which it plays against in the Tunis derby every season of the Tunisian Professional League 1 and sometimes the Tunisian Cup, and another competition in the Tunisian Clásico with Étoile Sportive du Sahel and CS Sfaxien. Former Esperance player Tarak Dhiab is considered a legend and icon of the club, as he is the most participating player with 427 matches and the all-time top scorer, scoring 127 goals. Tunisian businessman Hamdi Meddeb has been president of the club since 2007, and it has been coached by Spanish coach Pablo Franco since October 2026. Espérance de Tunis will host its competitors on the field of the Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, located in the city of Radès, in the southern suburb of the city Tunis. After his name, several clubs in the region were named after Esperance, such as Espérance Sportive de Zarzis, Esperance Wadi Al-Nis of Palestine, Esperance Club of Saudi Arabia, Espérance Sportive Troyes of France and Esperance Mostaganem of Algeria.
Espérance de Tunis has a wide fan base in Tunisia, not only in the capital but throughout the country. After winning the CAF Champions League title twice in a row, the club's popularity has also appeared in Africa, and fans abroad frame some of its beloved cells such as France, Germany, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup, more than 15,000 supporters were transported to the United Arab Emirates to support the team.
History
Founding and early years The club was founded at the Café de L'Espérance () in the Bab Souika neighborhood of Tunis, by Muhamed Zouaoui (of Kabyle heritage) and Hédi Kallel.
After almost one year of waiting, the authorities granted the founders of Espérance an initial verbal approval to establish the club in January 1919. However, two weeks later, they were required to appoint a French president to obtain official authorization, as the regulations at the time mandated that all such clubs be legally chaired by a French national. To comply, they turned to , a member of the French colonial administration.Taraji Archives. (n.d.). Création de l'Espérance Sportive de Tunis. p. . Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com/document/814746749/Taraji-Archives-Creation-de-l-Esperance-Sportive-de-Tunis
On 15 January 1919, Espérance was officially registered, marking a moment of great joy for its founders, Muhamed Zouaoui and , who successfully established the first Tunisian football club. Its initial colors were green and white ➜.
Due to a persistent shortage of green jerseys, Chedly Zouiten stumbled upon a stock of red and yellow jerseys while shopping. They wore these colors for an upcoming match and won. Believing the new colors brought them good luck, the club decided to adopt them permanently. This marked the transition to red and yellow ➜, which became the club's iconic "Sang et Or" colors, a tradition that continues today.
Under Zouiten's tenure, which lasted more than three decades, Espérance was nearly on the verge of abandonment until promotion to the honorary division of the League of Tunisia in 1936.Moroy, Franck. "L’espérance sportive de Tunis: Genèse d’un mythe bourguibien." Archive.org (p.7) Espérance also managed to reach the final of the Tunisian Cup, but were beaten by Stade Gaulois. Two years after its failure against the Stade Gaulois, Espérance won the Tunisian Cup (1939) against the Etoile Sportive du Sahel (4–1), its first ever triumph and title. It was in 1955 that Espérance qualified to represent the Tunisian League in the North African Cup. In the knockout match, two of the five teams were drawn at random to compete against each other and the winner qualifies for the Quarterfinals. SC Bel Abbès was a French Algerian Club and the Espérance Sportive de Tunis faced each other, the match took place on 20 February 1955, the Tunisian club losing on the score of 2 goals to 1. Between the start of the World War II and independence (1956), the squad quality improved.
An exclusively Muslim club
Football emerged in the Regency of Tunis in the early 1900s.Moroy, Franck. "L’espérance sportive de Tunis: Genèse d’un mythe bourguibien." Archive.org (p. 2) European clubs, largely colonial appendices of metropolitan sports associations, were the only ones to participate in the first Tunisian championship in 1910. Among these were French clubs such as Racing Club de Tunis (founded in 1904), Les Lutins (a society sponsored and funded by the Catholic Church), Sporting Club de Tunis (1908), and Stade Gaulois, as well as Italian clubs (Italia de Tunis, Savoia de Sousse) and Maltese clubs, with the most representative being Mélita-Sports in Tunis. The following years saw this lineup grow with Jeanne d'Arc, Avant Garde, and Stade Tunisois. The Stade Africain, a Franco-Arab club (but predominantly French), was the first to include Tunisian players, recruited from colleges and high schools.
After a two-year interruption due to the World War I, a Franco-Arab Cup was held in 1917, marking the return to competition. During the final between Stade Africain and Stade Tunisois (a club that only accepted Jewish players), violent incidents erupted between the supporters of the two teams. The atmosphere in the stands was filled with latent anti-Semitism: the 14 points of President Woodrow Wilson and the Balfour Declaration were on the lips of those in the know, and resentment against the Jewish population, who had not been mobilized during the conflict, lingered in the minds of military personnel filling the stands. Following the disturbances between Muslims and Jews, and the anti-Semitic incidents that marred the match, any sports demonstration or mass gathering was banned.Entretien avec Michel Denis, Sciences Humaines, no. 27, April 1993, p. 21.Jacques Berque, *Le Maghreb entre les deux guerres*, Paris, Seuil, 1962, p. 446.
Located in the northern part of the Medina, Rue Achour, predominantly Muslim, extended towards Hafsia, an area with a significant Jewish population, fostering interaction between two neighboring groups. These communities, initially adversaries, grew closer and decided to merge their teams, calming the authorities of the French Protectorate. In response, the Union Sportive Tunisienne (UST) was born from the fusion of Stade Tunisois and Stade Africain. This new club would go on to dominate Tunisian football during the interwar period.Moroy, Franck. "L’espérance sportive de Tunis: Genèse d’un mythe bourguibien." Archive.org (p. 5)
Muhamed Zouaoui, the goalkeeper for Stade Africain, alongside and Othman Ben Soltan, who were advocates for the creation of an "authentically" Muslim club—not just a Tunisian one—met at the "L'Espérance" café on the edge of the Medina Bab Souika. This meeting marked the founding of Espérance Sportive de Tunis. The establishment of this club was in direct response to the creation of the UST, which had been predominantly composed of Jewish players after the departure of Muslim members. Espérance Sportive was officially granted permission by the French authorities on 15 January 1919, and was formed not to oppose a national identity but as a countermeasure to the Jewish community's initiative in Tunisian football.Voir le plan de Tunis, p. 59, for the locations of meetings and socializing related to Espérance Sportive de Tunis.
The founding date of Espérance carries special significance in shaping the club's identity. Many football enthusiasts, regardless of which team they support, believe that Espérance is the first Tunisian team to have been created in the country. This sense of authenticity derived from the club's origins contributes to its mythical status: it is often seen as an early commitment to the national movement. The club's recruitment policy, focused exclusively on Muslim players from the beginning, further solidified its reputation. Despite modest early results, Espérance stood out by its insistence on fielding only Muslim players, in contrast to other Tunisian clubs like UST and Club Africain,. which fielded French or Italian players. This refusal to have "mixed blood" players and the purity of a team composed solely of local talent positioned Espérance as a symbol of Tunisian nationalism.Cette réflexion s'appuie sur un corpus de vingt-cinq entretiens effectués dans le cadre d'un mémoire de DEA.
However, the presence of a French president,, who was required by French law when forming any association, did somewhat tarnish the club's image among the "Espérantistes," as this affiliation conflicted with the ideals of nationalism. Nevertheless, the authenticity of Espérance Sportive was cemented by its deep-rooted connection to the northern Medina neighborhoods, reinforcing its status as a local, nationalist institution.Moroy, Franck. "L’espérance sportive de Tunis: Genèse d’un mythe bourguibien." Archive.org (p.3-4)
First achievements (1936–1956)
In 1936, under the leadership of coach Hammadi Ben Ghasham, Espérance Sportive de Tunis secured promotion to the first division, a status they have never left since. The players who contributed to this achievement in such tough circumstances included: Mohsen El-Khlifi, Al-Arrousi Ettasouri, El-Kafi, Berlabih, El-Riyahi, Larqash, Ben Ghasham, Khalafed, Baalrabi, Cherif, Ben Ghazi, El-Halaibi, Abdelsamad, El-Madhab, and El-Qatousi.
During the presidency of , who led for over three decades, the club almost risked being overlooked before it was promoted to the prestigious league in 1936. Espérance also reached the final of the Tunisian Cup, but they were defeated by Stade Guelma.