✍️ Baltej Bining

Rayan Elloumi, a name that has had a sudden rise over the last 18 months. He has gone from the Whitecaps academy to becoming a Tunisian National Team player.

It started by terrorizing MLS NEXT Pro defences, recording eleven goals and seven assists in 18 games for Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2, and after making his first-team debut against the Columbus Crew last year, he signed a first-team deal in September and scored his first goal for the Whitecaps just a day later on his home debut, with his family in the stands.

Since that day, he added another goal and even tallied an assist during the MLS Playoffs, as the Whitecaps made it all the way to the MLS Cup Final.

He would make his unofficial debut for Canada in January, but would make his official international debut in March, but for Tunisia.

Now, he's going to the World Cup with Tunisia after appearing in four friendlies. We had a chat, and here are some questions and answers that we exchanged.

I have edited his responses to make them more suitable to read.

I first asked Rayan about his meteoric rise and how he felt from playing in MLS NEXT Pro to being selected for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

"Honestly, it’s been surreal; I sometimes can’t believe it myself. A year ago I was in the academy, and now I’m in the World Cup, so it just shows how fast things can change in football. I'm excited for the future and excited to just keep working and getting better day in, day out."

Next, I asked him about his thoughts on how his dual-nationality situation puts him in a rare spot, where he will be playing in a World Cup co-hosted by the country he grew up in while playing for the country of his origin.

"Yeah, it’s a unique situation, and the decision definitely was not easy. I talked about this in some other interviews, but being a dual national is tricky because you always feel like you’re letting down one side of where you came from. That being said, I also didn’t expect to make this decision at such a young age, but that’s football. The best thing was that nothing was forced on me, and I had open conversations with both sides. I also had a lot of good conversations with people I trusted and spent a lot of time sitting and making sure I chose the right path for me, and I have no regrets. The World Cup also being in North America is so special, and I’m super excited."

Breaking into the first team must have been special, but you also need some sort of help adjusting into the MLS as a whole, so who has helped Rayan the most in making his transition to the professional leagues smooth?

"Everyone’s been extremely helpful and supportive; I always feel like I can talk to anyone for advice, and that’s one of the things that makes our group so special and successful. Sebastian Berhalter, Thomas Müller and Emmanuel Sabbi are the guys that stand out to me because they are the ones I’m usually bugging the most with questions hahaha."

Currently, Rayan is teammates with one of the biggest legends in the sport while playing for one of the best teams in the league. He is also set to play in his first World Cup at just 18 years of age. Has he truly processed his reality?

"Yeah, sometimes I need to remind myself of this. Because it’s easy to normalize something when you do it every day. But I’m extremely grateful to be in such a great environment. Even though I’m not playing that much, I still feel like I’ve improved and developed a lot as a person and a player in these last 7 months. I’d say the World Cup dream is still being processed, to be honest, but when I see the fans and my last name on that jersey, there’s a feeling of pride and joy that is unexplainable."

So far, Rayan has already experienced some great moments in his career, but which one has stood out for him?

"Honestly, that game against Haiti in Toronto. That for me was one of my favourite moments because it was my first start for Tunisia and the crowd was amazing. I felt so happy the whole game and couldn’t stop smiling."

To close it out, I asked Rayan about some of the individual goals he wanted to achieve with Tunisia in this tournament.

"I want to debut, and I want to score. That would be a dream come true."

That was all I asked, as I respect Rayan's time as he's clearly a busy person with all this World Cup chaos happening.

I want to thank Rayan for taking time out of his day to answer my questions, and I wish him all the luck heading into the World Cup and the remainder of the 2026 Major League Soccer season with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Catch Rayan Elloumi and Tunisia in action on Sunday against Sweden in Monterrey, with kickoff set for 7:00 pm PT and available to watch on TSN and RDS.