Pétanque in Tunisia

Tunisia is one of the strongest pétanque nations outside France, with a World Championship record stretching from 1983 to 2025 and a passionate community sustained by the sport's French colonial-era heritage. The warm Mediterranean climate keeps courts busy across the country nearly year-round.

History

Tunisia was a founding member of the FIPJP at its creation on 8 March 1958 in Marseille, alongside Belgium, France, Monaco, Morocco, Spain, and Switzerland. The Fédération Tunisienne de Boules et Pétanque (FTBP), which governs both boules lyonnaises and pétanque, took its modern unified form through a merger of separate boules and pétanque bodies on 28 October 1960.

World Championship Success

Tunisia won its first Men's Triplette World Championship in 1983, when Mohamed Ferjani, Hédi Jabeur, and Matallah Ben Hamida defeated Belgium in the final. The country's modern golden era has been driven by Mouna Béji, Tunisia's most decorated player, who won the Women's Triplette World Championship in 2011 in Antalya, Turkey (alongside Monia Sahhal, Nadia Ben Abdessalem, and Saousen Belaïd), the Individual World Championship in 2023 in Cotonou, Benin, and the Mixed Doubles World Championship in 2025 in Fréjus, France, partnered with Asma Belli. At the 2025 World Games in Chengdu, China, Béji added two more golds - Women's Precision Shooting (beating China's Yan Linlin 35-31) and Mixed Petanque Classic Doubles (partnered with Bougriba, 10-9 over Thailand in the final) - Tunisia's first-ever World Games gold medals in any sport. See our 2025 World Games results recap for the full medal table. Tunisia's men's triplette added a bronze medal at the 2024 World Championship in Dijon, France (Mohamed Khaled Bougriba, Majdi Hammami, Sofien Ben Brahim, and Lassaad El May).

African Championships

Tunisia is a repeat African champion. The men's team won the African Championship in Lomé, Togo, in 2019, qualifying for the 2020 World Championship. At the 2024 African Championship in Marrakech, Morocco, Tunisia's women's team took gold and the men's team claimed silver behind champions Senegal, with Khaled Bougriba adding an individual precision-shooting title. Tunisia won the men's triplette title again at the 2025 African Championship in Nouakchott, Mauritania, with Bougriba taking silver in precision shooting.

The Tunisian Pétanque Scene

Bizerte, in Tunisia's north, is the sport's best-documented regional stronghold, historically anchored by Menzel Bourguiba Pétanque Club and, in recent years, by the rising Tinja Sports, alongside fellow northern-league clubs El Ittihad Menzli, El Kirch de Bizerte, Metline, VS Menzel Abderrahman, and Aouasja. Tunis, Sousse, and Sfax are also long-standing hubs where the sport took root through the early 20th century.

Federation Contact & Regional Leagues

The FTBP is headquartered at Avenue d'Égypte, Lafayette, 1002 Tunis Belvédère, and can be reached at +216 71 831 686 or by email at ftbp@planet.tn. The federation is organized into 4 regional leagues overseeing 105 affiliated clubs and associations with roughly 3,200 licensed players nationally - a structure that includes the Bizerte-area clubs above as well as hubs in greater Tunis and along the coast.

Major Tournaments

Tunisia International Pétanque Tournament: An annual FTBP-organized event held across multiple Tunisian cities, including Monastir; it had reached its 26th edition by 2020.
Djerba Pétanque Festival: An annual international tournament on the island of Djerba, drawing players from abroad.
International Open El Habib (Monastir): A regularly held open tournament on Tunisia's competitive calendar.
Tunisia Cup, regional-league finals, national doubles championship, and individual championship: Core fixtures of the FTBP's domestic season, part of an annual program that has run to roughly 18 organized competitions in recent seasons. The federation's official competitions pages at ftbp.org.tn publish current-season standings and dates.