The 1980s were a turning point for the club, which became semi-professional and allowed the team to remain in the national division for fourteen consecutive years.

During the same season, USM qualified for the quarter-finals of the Tunisian Cup but lost in Monastir against the Club African (1–0) during the overtime session.

On 3 May 2009, after a victory against Esperance Sportif de Tunis at Stade El Menzah, on the score of three goals to two, the club qualified for the first Tunisian Cup final in its history: it opposed CS Sfaxien on May 24 at the November 7 stadium in Radès, and ends with a score of 1 to 0 for the Sfaxiens with the presence of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

After that, the teams presented respectable levels after the assignment of coach Skandar Kasri and Lassaad Dridi to finish the ranking in 2019 in seventh place.

The 2019–2020 season the team managed to take third place in the national league, which enabled it to participate in a continental competition for the first time in its history, namely the 2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup.

After Chabbi resigned from coaching the team, Afouène Gharbi, who finished the season in tenth place, was appointed.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

It was inaugurated in 1958, this stadium with suspended tiers thanks to the technique of "cantilevered ball joint" used by the architect Olivier-Clément Cacoub initially offers a capacity of 3,000 places.