The national team is mainly and generally composed of players from Espérance Sportive de Tunis, Club Africain and Étoile Sportive du Sahel, these teams being the traditional locomotives of the national handball scene, as well as players playing in Europe, mainly in France.

Tunisia is the most successful team in the African Nations Championship with ten titles won in 1974, 1976, 1979, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2018, and played in the final eight times in 1985, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2016 and 2020.

During the 2005–06 season, Heykel Megannem was voted the best player in the French championship, with Wissem Hmam and Issam Tej also being in the standard team, respectively as left-back and pivot.

Following the 2009 world championship, the federation sidelined Issam Tej for "indiscipline, insolence and recidivism" and Makram Missaoui for "having refused to resume play against Poland", while Maher Kraiem was suspended for three months for “misconduct”.

The team is coached by the Croatian Sead Hasanefendić until June 2008, before being replaced by the Serb Zoran Živković from 24 October 2008.