The 2026–27 Espérance Sportive de Tunis season is the 108th season in existence and the club's 72nd consecutive season in the top flight of Tunisian football.
In addition to the domestic league, Espérance de Tunis are participating in this season editions of the Tunisian Cup, the Tunisian Super Cup and the CAF Champions League.
Pre-season Managerial change and coaching staff On 15 June 2026, Espérance Sportive de Tunis officially announced the appointment of Laurențiu Reghecampf as the new head coach. The Romanian, who had already managed the club between November 2024 and March 2025, signed a contract and took charge for the 2026–27 season.
On 6 July 2026, the club unveiled its coaching staff for the season. Reghecampf was assisted by Dino Fiorelli (first assistant) and Mohamed Amine Naffati (second assistant). Physical preparation was entrusted to Slim Labrak, assisted by Hassan Ksouri, while Mabrouk El Akremi became goalkeeping coach.
Return and training camps Training resumed on 12 July 2026 at Parc B.
A ten-day training camp took place in Aïn Draham from 16 July to 26 July 2026.
Friendly matches During the preparation period, the team faced several opponents of different levels. They also played Najm Khemiri and Union de Carthage, two Tunisian amateur clubs. They faced PS Sakiet Eddaïer, a Tunisian club that had just been promoted to Ligue 1 after winning the Ligue 2 title. They also played AS Marsa, a Tunisian Ligue 1 club. Later, they played FC San Pédro, an Ivorian club that won the Ivorian Ligue 1 in 2024 and was competing in the CAF Champions League qualifiers for the 2026–27 season. These matches allowed the club to see new players, try several ways of playing and give playing time to everyone. The overall record was good, with four wins, one draw and only one defeat.
Mid-season managerial change After the international break and the first four league rounds, Espérance had made a start with three wins and one defeat, which put them at the top of the table. It was in this context that FCSB, the Romanian club, went through a serious crisis after a heavy 5–0 defeat. The board decided to part ways with their manager and turned immediately to Laurențiu Reghecampf, who had already managed the club before. The Romanian then began negotiations with the Romanian club to terminate his contract with Espérance. After ten hours of talks, no agreement was reached. Reghecampf then decided to travel to Romania without informing the Tunisian club, thus missing the training camp in Aïn Draham. Faced with this inexplicable absence, Espérance called in a bailiff to record the situation and protect its interests. Reghecampf eventually signed for Steaua București without having settled his departure with Espérance, which prompted the club to prepare a case to sue him before FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The affair shook the club and its supporters, who saw their coach leave mid-season without any explanation.
Espérance de Tunis entrusted the interim to Belgian coach Joël Crahay, initially engaged to ensure the transition. Meanwhile, the board reached an agreement with Spaniard Pablo Franco to take charge of the team. Franco, fresh from winning the Moroccan championship with Maghreb Fez in the 2025–26 season, arrived with his assistant Mejdi Traoui.
Due to a family-related issue, Pablo Franco was unable to manage the two friendly matches, and the Belgian interim manager Joël Crahay took charge of both games. The first was against Libyan Ligue 1 club Olympic Azzaweya SC on 26 September 2026, and the second against Tunisian Ligue 2 side US Bousalem on 29 September 2026. These fixtures allowed the coaching staff to assess the players and prepare the team for the upcoming league and continental commitments. A third friendly was scheduled against Al Ittihad Al Asskary on 4 October 2026.
Squad list Note: Flags indicate the national team, defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Staff Aitor van den Brule (assistant manager) (from 6 October) Mejdi Traoui (assistant manager) (from 24 September) Mohamed Amine Naffati (assistant manager) Mabrouk Akremi (Goalkeeping coach) Slim Labreg (fitness manager) Hassen Ksouri (fitness manager) Khalil Bouzaiene (mental preparer) Youssef Arnaz (mental preparer) Viorel Dinu (assistant manager) (until 24 September)
Name Date of Birth (Age) Since Signed from Goalkeepers 1 Amenallah Memmiche 2023 Youth system 22 Montasser Essid 2026 JS El Omrane 32 Bechir Ben Saïd 2024 US Monastir Defenders 2 Mohamed Ben Ali 2022 CS Sfaxien 3 Elies Araar 2026 Strasbourg 4 Marouane Sahraoui 2026 Stade Tunisien 6 Hamza Jelassi 2024 Étoile du Sahel 12 Nidhal Laifi 2025 Stade Tunisien 13 Mohamed Dräger 2026 Eintracht Braunschweig 25 Raed Chikhaoui 2026 US Monastir 28 Adem Alilet 2026 Al Ittihad Tripoli — Elyas Bouzaiene 2024 Västerås SK — Ala Derbali 2025 Youth system Midfielders 8 Hamza Rafia 2026 Lecce 14 Khairi Meddaoui 2024 Youth system 15 Khalil Guenichi 2022 Youth system 16 Jesús Castillo 2026 Universitario de Deportes 17 Haytham Dhaou 2025 Youth system 18 Moez Hadj Ali 2026 US Monastir 20 Mohamed Belhadj Mahmoud 2026 Lugano 21 Abdramane Konaté 2024 San Pédro 31 Chiheb Jebali 2025 US Monastir 36 Arkem Taboubi 2025 Youth system Forwards 7 Imad Faraj 2026 Neftchi Baku 9 Florian Danho 2025 Randers 10 Lucas Ribeiro 2026 Al Ittihad Tripoli 11 Youcef Belaïli (C) 2024 MC Alger 19 Achref Jabri 2022 Youth system 23 Namory Keita 2026 RC Abidjan 24 Youssef Becha 2026 CS Sfaxien 27 Hazem Mastouri 2026 Dynamo Makhachkala 29 Maël Fernandez 2026 Gazelle Garoua Manager Pablo Franco 2026 Maghreb Fez
Transfers In DateNameFromTypeSource1 July 2026 Khairi Meddaoui Stade GabèsienEnd of loan Montasser Essid JS El OmraneTransfer Marouane Sahraoui Stade TunisienFree transfer3 July 2026 Youssef Becha CS Sfaxien14 July 2026 Raed Chikhaoui US MonastirTransfer Maël Fernandez Gazelle Garoua15 July 2026 Mohamed Belhadj Mahmoud LuganoFree transfer23 July 2026 Adel Bettaieb Argeș Pitești8 August 2026 Jesús Castillo Universitario de DeportesTransfer14 August 2026 Lucas Ribeiro Al Ittihad Tripoli17 August 2026 Imad Faraj Neftchi Baku27 August 2026 Hazem Mastouri Dynamo Makhachkala19 September 2026 Adem Alilet Al Ittihad TripoliFree transfer24 September 2026 Namory Keita RC AbidjanTransfer
Out DateNameToTypeSource1 July 2026 Yan Sasse Neftchi FerganaEnd of contract Wael Derbali Brommapojkarna Zakaria El Ayeb Stade Tunisien Ghaith Ouahabi Hatta Onuche Ogbelu Al Ittihad Tripoli Houssem Tka CR Belouizdad Yassine Meriah Club Africain Mohamed Amine Ben Hamida Al Hazem Youssef MsakniRetirementMutual termination—14 July 2026 Ahmed Bouassida US MonastirTransfer18 July 2026 Amenallah Majhed Al Wahda21 July 2026 Mohamed Amine Tougai Al Ahli Tripoli27 July 2026 Kebba Sowe ES Zarzis30 July 2026 Koussay Maacha AS Marsa Rayen Hamrouni5 August 2026 Younes RachedFree agentMutual termination— Aziz Knani Stade TunisienFree transfer Aziz Koudhai CS Hammam-LifLoan6 August 2026 Mohamed Mouhli Olympic CharleroiFree transfer11 August 2026 Kouceila Boualia CR BelouizdadMutual termination17 August 2026 Adel Bettaieb Raja CA19 August 2026 Mokhtar Ifaoui US Ben GuerdaneLoan20 August 2026 Aboubacar Diakité Al HazemTransfer2 September 2026 Jack Diarra Al Ittihad Tripoli13 September 2026 Elias MokwanaFree agentMutual termination—24 September 2026 Mohamed Sedki Debchi HiddTransfer25 September 2026 Zinedine Kada Al Tahaddy SCLoan5 October 2026 Ibrahima Keita Al SadaqaFree transfer
Competitions Overview
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |- !rowspan=2|Competition !colspan=8|Record !rowspan=2|Starting round !rowspan=2|Final position / round !rowspan=2|First match !rowspan=2|Last match |- ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! |- | Ligue 1
| 2nd | 23 August 2026 | 2027 |- | Tunisian Cup
| Round of 32 | Round of 32 | 2026–2027 | 2026–2027 |- | Tunisian Super Cup
| Final | Final | colspan=2 | January 2027 |- | CAF Champions League
| Second round | Second round | 18 October 2026 | 2026–2027 |- ! Total
|bgcolor=silver colspan=2| ! 23 August 2026 ! 2027
Ligue 1
League table
Results by round
Score overview Key: Espérance de Tunis goals shown first. OppositionHome scoreAway scoreAggregate scoreDoubleAS Marsa2–12027Club Africain2027November 2026CA BizertinDecember 20262027CS Hammam-Lif20271–0CS Sfaxien2027October 2026ES Hammam SousseNovember 20262027ES MétlaouiJanuary 20272027Étoile du Sahel3–22027ES ZarzisDecember 20262027JS El Omrane20271–3Olympique Béja10 October 20262027PS Sakiet Eddaïer2027December 2026Stade Tunisien2027December 2026US Ben Guerdane2027December 2026US MonastirOctober 20262027
Matches
Results summary
Tunisian Cup
Espérance de Tunis will enter the tournament in the round of 32, as they are part of the 2026–27 Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1.
Tunisian Super Cup
CAF Champions League
Qualifying rounds
The draw of the qualifying rounds was held on 6 August 2026.
Second round
Statistics ‡ Player played at least one game and left the club during the season. y Youth team
Playing statistics Players with no appearances are not included on the list.
Goals
RankPlayerLigue 1Tunisian CupCAF Champions LeagueTunisian Super CupTotal118Moez Hadj Ali20002220Mohamed Belhadj Mahmoud1000127Hazem Mastouri100029Maël Fernandez100011Youcef Belaïli10004Marouane Sahraoui1000Total70007
Assists
RankPlayerLigue 1Tunisian CupCAF Champions LeagueTunisian Super CupTotal110Lucas Ribeiro20002219Achref Jabri1000121Abdramane Konaté100018Moez Hadj Ali1000Total50005
Cleansheets
RankPlayerLigue 1Tunisian CupCAF Champions LeagueTunisian Super CupTotal122Montasser Essid10001Total10001
Disciplinary record
Milestones Debuts The following players made their competitive debuts for the first team during the campaign.
Legend – Indicates youth academy debut.
DatePlayerFinal scoreOpponentCompetition4Marouane Sahraoui303–2 (H)Étoile du SahelTunisian Ligue Professionnelle 17Imad Faraj2716Jesús Castillo2520Mohamed Belhadj Mahmoud2625Raed Chikhaoui2229Maël Fernandez1924Youssef Becha2127Hazem Mastouri293–1 (A)JS El Omrane10Lucas Ribeiro272–1 (H)AS Marsa22Montasser Essid260–1 (A)CS Hammam-Lif (H) — Home; (A) — Away; (N) — Neutral
First goals The following players scored their first goals for Espérance de Tunis first team during the campaign.
DatePlayerScoreFinal scoreOpponentCompetition20Mohamed Belhadj Mahmoud261–0 (H)3–2 (H)Étoile du SahelTunisian Ligue Professionnelle 118Moez Hadj Ali272–2 (H)27Hazem Mastouri293–1 (A)3–1 (A)JS El Omrane29Maël Fernandez191–0 (H)2–1 (H)AS Marsa4Marouane Sahraoui300–1 (A)0–1 (A)CS Hammam-Lif (H) — Home; (A) — Away; (N) — Neutral
References
External links Taraji Plus