Tunisia Sacks Coach Sabri Lamouchi After World Cup Defeat

Monterrey. Tunisia's head coach Sabri Lamouchi, who played only one match in the 2026 World Cup, has been sacked. 

The 54-year-old former French international player was removed from his post by Tunisian football officials the day after suffering a humiliating 5-1 defeat against Sweden in their first Group F match in Monterrey on Sunday night. 

Tunisia has appointed Mondher Kebaier as interim coach in Monterrey for their second group match against Japan next Sunday. The 56-year-old Kebaier previously managed the Tunisian national team from 2019 to 2022 and had been working as technical director since last year. 

Under his leadership, Tunisia reached the final of the 2021 Arab Cup, losing to Algeria, and were eliminated from the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) the following year. 

Before leaving his post, Lamouchi said his team had paid the price for a series of serious mistakes. Admitting defeat after the match, he said, 'This is a difficult and painful defeat. It is indeed difficult to start the tournament with such a big loss. We made many mistakes in the game.' 

Lamouchi was already under pressure after his team lost 5-0 to Belgium in their final World Cup warm-up match. He also had to defend media criticism for keeping his son with him at the training camp, despite not being an official member. 

Tunisia will now face Japan and the Netherlands in their remaining group stage matches. Japan and the Netherlands played a thrilling 2-2 draw in Dallas on Sunday. Speaking about his remaining matches, Lamouchi had said, 'We have our own pride. We have to respond and present a good image on the field.' 

Lamouchi, who holds dual Tunisian and French citizenship, played for famous clubs such as Auxerre, Monaco, Parma, Inter Milan, and Marseille during his playing career. As a coach, he led Ivory Coast to the 2014 World Cup, where despite beating Japan in the first match, the team was eliminated from the group stage after a dramatic defeat against Greece in the final match. 

This was the second major blow for Lamouchi in the World Cup. In the 1998 World Cup, coach Aimé Jacquet dropped him from the final squad of France as a player, causing him to miss out on making history when France won their first World Cup on home soil. 

He then managed Rennes, Nottingham Forest, and some clubs in Qatar, and also worked briefly in Cardiff City and Saudi Arabia. Tunisia appointed Lamouchi as head coach on a two-and-a-half-year contract last January after a disappointing performance in the Africa Cup of Nations. However, with the humiliating defeat in the first match of the World Cup, his contract has ended prematurely.