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Tunisia are set to fire their head coach Sabri Lamouchi after only one World Cup game.
Sources briefed on the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, said on Monday that Tunisia intended to part ways with Lamouchi following Sunday's 5-1 defeat to Sweden in their World Cup group stage opener.
His anticipated departure would see him become the first coach to be fired just one game into a World Cup tournament.
Lamouchi, 54, has won just one of his five games in charge of Tunisia following his appointment five months ago.
Goals from Sweden’s Yasin Ayari, Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyokeres and Mattias Svenberg saw his side fall to defeat at the Monterrey Stadium on Monday. Tunisia, now bottom of Group F, still have two more games to play in the group stage — against Japan on June 21 before facing the Netherlands on June 26.
“It's a difficult loss. It’s painful,†Lamouchi told reporters after the Sweden defeat. “Starting the competition with â this bad of a loss is indeed difficult.
“With world-class players that we have in the two Swedish forwards (Gyokeres and Isak), it's something that you don't recover from. We made way too many mistakes. We have our pride. We need to react. We need to give a better image.â€
Lamouchi was appointed Tunisia coach in January 2026, replacing Sami Trabelsi, who left his role following the nation’s last-16 exit at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
The former Ivory Coast, Rennes, Nottingham Forest, Cardiff City, and Al Riyadh manager lost three of his five games in charge of Tunisia. A 1-0 victory over Haiti in March was Lamouchi’s only victory while his side were also beaten 5-0 by Belgium on June 6 in a pre-World Cup friendly.
Deja vu for Tunisia
Tunisia are not the first team to dismiss a manager mid-tournament, and they have done so before.
In the 1998 World Cup, held in France, the country sacked head coach Henryk Kasperczak before the end of the group stage after losing to England and Colombia without scoring. Ali Selmi took charge for their final group match, which they drew, against Romania.
More recently in February 2024, the Ivory Coast sacked Jean-Louis Gasset two games into their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations campaign after two group stage losses left them on the brink of elimination. He was replaced by assistant coach Emerse Fae, who guided the side to win that tournament.
‘No tactics, no structure, no identity’
Analysis by Jay Harris
This is the second time in 2026 that Tunisia have parted company with their head coach.
In January, Sami Trabelsi was sacked one day after Tunisia were eliminated by Mali on penalties in the round of 16 at the Africa Cup of Nations. Tunisia looked on course to reach the quarter-finals when they took the lead in the 88th minute through Firas Chaouat but then conceded in stoppage time. If the manner of that defeat was painful, what happened against Sweden was embarrassing. It was made even worse by Yasin Ayari, whose father is Tunisian, scoring two of Sweden's goals.
Initially, there was optimism following Lamouchi's appointment. The 54-year-old, who represented France during his playing career but was born to Tunisian parents, started giving opportunities to the next generation, including 21-year-old Paris Saint-Germain winger Khalil Ayari. He also called up Vancouver Whitecaps' 18-year-old forward Rayan Elloumi and 22-year-old defender Raed Chikhaoui. Lamouchi was trying to give the squad an injection of youth at the expense of experience and it backfired as they were outclassed by Sweden.
Omar Belghith is a Tunisian supporter who spoke to The Athletic for the Language of Soccer series. He describes Tunisia's performance against Sweden as their “worst World Cup defeat in history.â€
“There were no tactics, no structure and no identity — just chaos on the pitch,†Belghith, who has supported Tunisia since watching the 1998 World Cup aged five, told The Athletic. “Players looked lost and completely out of position. The team started without a real striker. Every decision looked wrong from the first minute to the last.
“But the real problem isn't just the coach. It's the people who appointed him and allowed this to happen in the first place. Total responsibility goes all the way to the top. At some point it's no longer about the coaches, it's about the system making the same mistakes over and over.â€
