The North Africans, who host the next tournament, held Portugal to a 1 -1 draw in Lisbon last weekend.

"The Tunisians showed a lot of character and plenty of resilience in defence," said the current Fifa World Player of the Year.

"From what I have seen of them, I think they will do well at the African Nations Cup.

"They have very good players and Hatem Trabelsi is outstanding," Figo said.

The Lisbon match gave Roger Lemerre, Tunisia's new coach, a chance to assess the players he will be managing.

"I am very impressed by the players experience and personality.

"Their individual quality shine through and demonstrates that Tunisia's appearance at the last two World Cup finals was not an accident," Lemerre said.

Tunisia's caretaker coach Yousef Zouaoui is expected to hand over to the ex-France boss this week.