Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles are indisputably the Arab world’s best soccer team having qualified four times including the last three games.

But for the first ever African-hosted games, the Eagles will miss out. It was always going to be a tough fight to qualify in a group with Nigeria (the only other team capable of qualifying) where only one side can advance.

Tunisia’s defeat though did not come at the hands of the west Africans, but rather lightweight Mozambique in a 1-0 defeat. Tunisia tied with Nigeria in a previous match.

That means Nigeria, which just defeated Kenya 3-2, will go on to the World Cup after several rounds of guessing which team will achieve the opportunity toward glory.

What went wrong? Tunisians blame the heat:

Captain Karim Haggui agreed that the team struggled physically.
“We had problems with the heat and the pitch, because we’re not used to playing on such a surface and it was over 30 degrees as well,” the defender told the BBC.

The home side, in contrast, were well prepared for playing a match of such intensity, because Mambas coach Mart Noijj had devised his own special preparations.

Tunisian fans watched in disbelief as their team failed in Maputo
“All visitors to Maputo misjudge the circumstances here,” the Dutchman told BBC Sport.

“This artificial surface gives a lot of temperature to players’ shoes and knees, and the feet boil like boiling potatoes.

“Since Monday, we’ve been sleeping - and suffering - without air conditioning, which is why my players didn’t suffer during the match.”

Tunisia probably would not have advanced beyond the first round, Brazil is destined to win it seems, and the Arabs will still be represented by one team most likely Egypt.

This is simply heartbreaking for Tunisians. The dream is over. Maybe Brazil 2014. Hey, that’d be a better game anyway!