Tunisia Dismiss Lamouchi After World Cup Humiliation
Tunisia have parted ways with head coach Sabri Lamouchi after just one match at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, following the team’s crushing 5-1 defeat to Sweden in their Group F opener.
The decision came less than 24 hours after Sunday’s loss in Monterrey, Mexico, with the Tunisian Football Federation moving quickly to appoint former national team boss Mondher Kebaier as interim manager.
Kebaier, 56, previously led the Eagles of Carthage between 2019 and 2022 and has served as the federation’s technical director since last year. He will take charge for Tunisia’s crucial second group-stage match against Japan, scheduled for Sunday in Monterrey.
The experienced coach guided Tunisia to the final of the 2021 Arab Cup, where they finished runners-up to Algeria, before overseeing a quarterfinal appearance at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations.
Lamouchi’s dismissal follows a difficult period for the national team. The former France international had already faced mounting scrutiny after a 5-0 defeat to Belgium in Tunisia’s final World Cup warm-up match. He also found himself defending the presence of his son at the team’s training camp, despite him not being an official member of the delegation.
Speaking after the loss to Sweden, Lamouchi acknowledged his team’s shortcomings.
“It’s a difficult loss. It’s painful,” he said. “Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult. We made way too many mistakes.”
The 54-year-old had urged his players to respond in their remaining group fixtures against Japan and the Netherlands, who played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in Dallas.
“We have our pride,” Lamouchi said. “We need to react. We need to give a better image.”
Lamouchi was appointed in January on a two-and-a-half-year contract following Tunisia’s disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign, but his tenure ends after just six months and one World Cup match.
A former midfielder with dual Tunisian and French citizenship, Lamouchi enjoyed a distinguished playing career with clubs including Auxerre, Monaco, Parma, Inter Milan and Marseille. He later moved into coaching, leading Ivory Coast to the 2014 World Cup, where the Elephants narrowly missed out on the knockout stage after a dramatic final-group-match defeat to Greece.
World Cup disappointment has been a recurring theme in Lamouchi’s career. As a player, he was famously omitted from France’s final squad for the 1998 World Cup, missing out as Les Bleus lifted their first world title on home soil.
His coaching résumé also includes spells with Rennes, Nottingham Forest, Cardiff City, clubs in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, before taking charge of Tunisia earlier this year.
Now, with qualification hopes already under pressure, Tunisia will look to Kebaier to stabilize the team ahead of decisive clashes against Japan and the Netherlands as they seek to keep their World Cup campaign alive.
