Tunisia sacked boss Sabri Lamouchi after losing in the World Cup against Sweden World Cup 2026 news

Tunisia coach Sabri Lamouchi pays the price of football’s 5-1 defeat to Sweden in the opening match of Group F at the 2026 World Cup.

Sabri Lamouchi has been sacked from Tunisia after just one match at the 2026 World Cup.

The 54-year-old former France international was sacked shortly after the Tunisia match 5-1 defeat by Sweden in their opening game of Group F football in Monterrey, Mexico, on Sunday night.

The Tunisian authorities appointed Mondher Kebaier, who led the national team from 2019 to 2022 and has been the technical director since last year, as the permanent manager ahead of the team’s second match against Japan earlier on Sunday, also in Monterrey.

The 56-year-old previously led the Eagles of Carthage to the final of the Arab Cup in 2021, after losing to Algeria, before exiting in the quarter-finals of the AFCON the following year.

Speaking before his departure, Lamouchi said his side were punished for many mistakes and after the game he admitted: “It’s a difficult loss. It’s painful. To start the competition with this bad loss is really difficult.

“We made a lot of mistakes.”

Lamouchi was already under pressure after the 5-0 defeat by Belgium in the team’s final warm-up game, when he was forced to defend his son’s presence during the training session on television despite not being a member of the team.

Tunisia will face Japan and the Netherlands, who drew 2-2 in their opener at Dallas on Sunday, in their last two groups, and Lamouchi said: “We have our pride. We have to do something.

Lamouchi, who has dual citizenship of Tunisia and France, represented clubs including Auxerre, Monaco, Parma, Inter and Marseille during his career before becoming manager and led Ivory Coast to the 2014 World Cup, beating Japan in their first game to exit the group after a late defeat by Greece in their last game.

It was a disappointing second World Cup title for Lamouchi, who was cut from France’s 1998 World Cup final squad by coach Aime Jacquet, missing out on a place in history as Les Bleus took home their first title.

He went on to manage Rennes and Nottingham Forest before moves to Qatar, Cardiff City and Saudi Arabia before being picked by Tunisia in January on a two-and-a-half-year deal following a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign.