At a glance
- Roles
- athlete · Politician
- Region
- Maghreb
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
Life in time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Place in the story
Unknown (unknown)
Roles are dated and sourced; the museum describes the act and attributes the judgement.
Summary
Tarak Dhiab is a Tunisian former footballer and politician, born in Tunis in 1954 — the English and Arabic articles give 15 January, the French article and Wikidata 15 July, and the date is recorded as debated. A playmaker for Espérance de Tunis, he was named African Footballer of the Year in 1977 and later served as Tunisia's Minister of Youth and Sports. 1 2 3 4
Career
Dhiab learned football at the school founded in Tunis by Abdel Rahman Ben Ezzedine in 1966, and the Arabic article records his byname, "Emperor of football". He played for Espérance de Tunis from 1972 and for Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli, and in 1977 he was chosen African Footballer of the Year. At the 1978 World Cup in Argentina he was part of the Tunisia team that beat Mexico to become the first African side to win a World Cup match; he also played at the 1988 Olympics. The Tunisian federation credits him with 107 caps, a figure FIFA has not ratified, and he was chosen as the Tunisian footballer of the twentieth century. 1 2
After the 2011 revolution he entered government as an independent, serving as Minister of Youth and Sports under prime ministers Hamadi Jebali and Ali Larayedh from 24 December 2011 to 29 January 2014, and later worked as a television pundit. 1
On the record
Connections
- Born in
- Tunis
People and things also explored
al-Zaytuna Mosque· Khayr al-Din takes Tunis (1534)· Charles V's conquest of Tunis (1535)· Louis IX's siege of Tunis (the Eighth Crusade)· Abu Zakariya al-Hafsi's break with the Almohads· Abu al-Hasan al-Marini's entry into Ifriqiya· The Recovery of Tunis from the Spanish· Abdelaziz Thâalbi
Sources
- Tarak Dhiab — English Wikipedia
- Tarak Dhiab — Arabic Wikipedia
- Tarak Dhiab — French Wikipedia
- Tarak Dhiab — Wikidata Q958968
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Tarak Dhiab”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/tarak-dhiab/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.